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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2024-07-07 13:42:25
The chilling murder of Tamil Nadu BSP chief K Armstrong in a busy and congested residential locality in Perambur, near Chennai, raises the question: is anyone safe anywhere?
The assailants, all eight or nine of them, entered the spot - an under-construction house of Armstrong where he had gone to inspect the work done during the day - easily, waited for the right time to strike and left without being challenged. Some of them were dressed as food delivery agents while others were in normal clothes. They carried machetes which they used to hack Armstrong. They also carried bombs as Plan B. It also proved that the gang had meticulously planned the murder and they knew Armstrong's routine. They also waited till 7pm to strike, knowing that the construction labourers would leave by 6.30pm. The police have arrested eleven suspects with criminal records and are interrogating them to find out their involvement in the crime. The police are also examining CCTV footage from the area and mobile tower signals of the suspects on the day of the crime to verify details. Like the ordinary people, TN chief minister M K Stalin was also shocked at the murder. In a social media post, he said he was shocked and has asked the police to speed up the investigation.
Although it is difficult for the police to keeps tabs on each and every criminal activity in an area, especially if it is planned secretly, it is also true that the police have a huge network of informers who should tip it if the murder of a political leader is being planned, more so since nearly a dozen people were directly involved. Armstrong's murder is an intelligence failure on part of Chennai police and it should take a fresh look at its network of informers and make it strong enough to prevent such crimes in future.