A case has been registered against three people after a BJP leader was hacked to death in public view in Chennai, on Tuesday, May 24. The police said that preliminary investigation suggested the involvement of the three accused, identified as Sanjay, Kalaivanan and Pradeep. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against them under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including Section 302 (Murder).
BJP SC/ST morcha south district president in Chennai, 30-year-old Balachandran, was hacked to death on Tuesday night by a three-member gang that attacked him while he was having tea at a wayside tea stall in the city. He had suffered serious cut injuries and was taken to the Government General Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead.
The police said that the murder may have been carried out as a result of personal issues between Balachandran and Pradeep. Earlier, Balachandran and his relatives had even lodged a complaint against Pradeep, accusing him of asking for ‘mamool’ (a cut of profits) to run a garment shop. Pradeep had been arrested in the case by the police and had recently got out of jail. Police have obtained CCTV footage from nearby areas and further investigation is ongoing.
According to the police, around 7.50 pm on Tuesday, Balachandran was talking to his friends on the busy Swamy Naickar street, when a group of unidentified people on bikes chased him and hacked him to death in full public view. He had suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a government hospital, where the doctors declared him dead. The incident occurred at Chindarapet in Chennai. Balachandran was facing life threats and was provided a personal security officer (PSO) by the Tamil Nadu home department. The incident is said to have happened when the PSO stepped away to have tea at a nearby shop.
The murder took place in Chennai even as the main opposition AIADMK in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday alleged that the state capital was getting transformed into a city of killings, leading to a scenario of uncertainty over the security of the people. Chennai alone has witnessed 18 murders in the past 20 days, AIADMK top leader K Palaniswami tweeted, referring to news reports.
In view of such incidents of crime, the capital city is getting converted to a 'city of killings' and a question mark hangs over the security scenario for the people as law and order situation has deteriorated, the leader of the opposition alleged. Palaniswami slammed Chief Minister MK Stalin, who holds the police portfolio, for “not improving” the law and order situation in the state and instead concentrating all his efforts in “stifling” the media.
With IANS and PTI inputs