Armstrong's widow and other BSP leaders took out a march in Chennai seeking justice for the death of the Dalit leader.
Published Aug 10, 2024 | 12:18 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 10, 2024 | 12:18 AM
Murdered BSP leader Armstrong and BJP's Paul Kanagaraj (X)
Tamil Nadu BJP vice-president Paul Kanagaraj was, on Friday, 9 August summoned to the police station regarding the murder of BSP state chief Armstrong.
On 5 July, Armstrong was hacked to death near his residence in Chennai by a bike-borne gang. The murder led to outrage and Opposition parties alleged a complete deterioration of law and order. The police and the government had assured stern measures to bring the culprits to book.
A day after his death, the Chennai police arrested eight members and later arrested more in connection with the case in the next few weeks. So far, over 20 people have been arrested in the murder case. Meanwhile, one of the key accused – K Thiruvengadam – was shot dead by police on 14 July while he was trying to allegedly escape.
Against this backdrop, Paul, who is representing two accused in the case – Nagendran and Sambavam Senthil – was summoned to the police station in Egmore for an interrogation. The interrogation started at 11 am on Friday and went on for seven hours.
Speaking to reporters after the interrogation, Paul Kanagaraj said that he was summoned because of his experience as a lawyer for over three decades and having represented several criminals over the years. He said that the cops wanted to know if he could shed light on the reason behind Armstrong’s murder or about the people involved in the murder.
“The police are working hard to find out who murdered Armstrong. Because I have worked as an advocate in the Madras High Court for 33 years, they summoned me as a person who prosecuted various criminals in the hope that I could point them in the correct direction. I fully cooperated with the investigation and told them whatever I knew,” Paul said.
He also said that the police had decided that the BJP leader wasn’t involved in the murder of Armstrong. “The police have decided that I have nothing to do with the murder. I also don’t know who was involved in the murder. Officials are keen on finding the culprits and police should be commended for doing such a thorough job,” he said praising the police officers.
This is the second time that he was interrogated by the police. He alleged that even though he had had a falling out with Armstrong over some issue at the Bar Council, he had long buried the issue and that the duo were good friends when the BSP leader died. He also clarified that they did not have difference of opinion with each other.
Meanwhile, Armstrong’s widow and other BSP leaders took out a march in Chennai seeking justice for the death of the Dalit leader. Questioning the DMK government not handing over the case to the CBI as BSP supremo Mayawati had demanded, the protesters also charged at the lawyers who have been arrested in the case.
The arrested people include political leaders across parties – DMK, AIADMK and BJP – with some of them being lawyers. Talking to the media about it, a BSP leader said, “They (the arrested lawyers) are not people who studied law properly and became advocates. They are ones who took a namesake course in some other state and while acting like lawyers on the outside in Tamil Nadu, they are just rowdies.”
On 9 August, one more person was arrested in the Armstrong murder case.
(Edited by Neena)
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