Tamil Nadu BJP President K Annamalai has demanded a CBI inquiry into the killing of state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief K Armstrong, questioning as to why Chief Minister MK Stalin was not ready to hand over the investigation to the federal agency.
“When the current Chief Minister was an Opposition leader, he used to demand a CBI inquiry for everything. I believe he demanded 71 CBI inquiries in 10 years while being in Opposition. This is a fit case for a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry, but what is stopping him from it?” the state BJP President asked.
Annamalai’s remarks came after he met the slain BSP leader’s family on Monday. He further stated that Tamil Nadu cannot become a police state.
“This is an incident that should not have happened in a state like Tamil Nadu, and to a popular leader. Somebody has taken the whole system for a ride, and it looks like a conspiracy. Tamil Nadu Police cannot rest on the fact that some people have surrendered…. Who are the people behind it? BJP Tamil Nadu is demanding a CBI inquiry due to the root of this murder. Like Mayawati said, law and order in Tamil Nadu has completely failed,” Annamalai said.
Both Amrstrong’s family and BSP supremo Mayawati, who paid tribute to her slain party leader in Chennai on Sunday, have demanded a CBI inquiry.
Tamil Nadu Police have so far arrested eight men who had surrendered on the night of the murder on July 5, and detained three others. The police said that according to initial investigations, a previous enmity could be the motive behind the murder, but Armstrong’s family has refused to accept the same.
When asked about the state police’s enmity narrative, K Annamalai claimed that the police are in a “defensive mode”.
The Tamil Nadu BJP chief also responded to the new Chennai Police Commissioner A Arun’s remarks about teaching rowdies in the language “they understand”.
“Tamil Nadu should not become a police state…. We are talking about lack of policing,” Annamalai said.
The BJP leader added that when the police and the ruling government go on defensive mode, typically for the upcoming weeks, encounters take place, in which the real issue gets lost.
“We should not get into that culture... The Chief Minister should not go to the extreme to say that I have changed the police. They will do a couple of encounters and Tamil Nadu will become a peaceful state. That would only be a temporary solution for a month,” he explained.
K Armstrong was hacked to death by six unidentified men near his residence in Chennai’s Perambur area.
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