Three gangs and three motives? The murder of BSP leader Armstrong in Tamil Nadu

This is the first story in a two-part series, 'Beneath the Surface', on former BSP Tamil Nadu chief K Armstrong who was murdered on July 5, leaving behind several questions regarding his life and death.

Eight men entered the Anna Nagar K4 police station in Chennai in the late hours of July 5, 2024. Accompanied by three lawyers, the men surrendered for a brutal murder that was committed earlier that evening. The motive, they said, was revenge. They even furnished proof of their involvement in the killing. 

Though their version seemed watertight, as more arrests happened, the police began to suspect that the plan was “a little too perfect”.

It was this feeling that fuelled them to look deeper into the murder of Tamil Nadu Bahujan Samaj Party chief K Armstrong, the investigators claimed. That there is mounting political and social pressure on the state government to actually investigate the killing of a powerful Dalit politician in the state is left unsaid. 

Ninety days into the investigation, the Tamil Nadu police, on Thursday, October 3, submitted a 5,000-page chargesheet, arraigning Nagendran as A1, 'Sambo' Senthil as A2 and Aswathaman as A3. So far, they have arrested 28 accused, killed one of them in an ‘encounter’, and zeroed in on three separate motives for Armstrong’s murder – even as they have officially denied that it is a ‘political killing’ as alleged by the BSP. 

Armstrong, a leader from the Paraiyar community (Scheduled Caste), was a formidable force in north Chennai and certain parts of north Tamil Nadu, where his influence extended to politics and local affairs. Once labelled a history-sheeter by the Chennai police, he rose to become the face of the BSP in Tamil Nadu.

While the police are yet to identify a single motive for his killing, they believe it could have been a combination of factors, including revenge, past rivalries, and real estate disputes. The police also believe that caste rivalry, combined with the business rivalry, also played a role.

Motive 1: Revenge

On July 5, 2024, at around 7.15 pm, Armstrong was overseeing the construction of his house when a group of men, some disguised as food delivery agents, armed with machetes and country-made bombs, surrounded him. Two minutes later, at 7.17 pm, the group unleashed a murderous attack that lasted all of 40 seconds, killing Armstrong on the spot.

The CCTV footage released by Chennai police revealed details of Armstrong’s assailants. The prime accused was identified as Ponnai Balu, the brother of Arcot Suresh, who was murdered in Pattinambakkam in August 2023. Suresh was an ‘A+’ category rowdy who had been booked in over 30 criminal cases, including two murders.

The men who surrendered told the police that they killed Armstrong as they believed he was involved in Suresh’s murder. However, police investigation revealed that Armstrong had no role to play in Suresh’s murder. 

Hours after Armstrong's murder, eight men – Ponnai Balu, Suresh’s brother-in-law advocate Arul, Thiruvengatam, Ramu, Selvaraj, Manivannan, Thirumalai, and Santosh – reached the K4 Anna Nagar police station to surrender for the crime. All the accused are from the Kuravar (Scheduled Tribe), except Thiruvengadam, who was from the Telugu Chettiar community (Backward Class).

While the general pattern followed in murder cases is for the accused to surrender before a court, in this case, the accused appeared to have a clear plan when surrendering before the police. Sources told TNM that most of the statements made by the accused men were identical – that they were involved in the crime and that it was Ponnai Balu who led the team. They even furnished proof of their involvement. 

The investigation has revealed that the plot to kill Armstrong was devised four months before the murder, and he was actively followed by a group of men for at least three months. The assailants rented a house in Manali, where regular meetings were held. 

Thirumalai, an auto rickshaw driver from Perambur, and Pradeep, a relative of Arcot Suresh, were tasked with following Armstrong on a daily basis. 

Vijay, Gokul, Sivasakthi, and Santosh were roped in to track Armstrong’s movements by posing as food delivery agents at a biryani outlet located near his residence. 

“They found that Armstrong was usually surrounded by his supporters and party men, making it difficult to get a hit. When he travelled outside Perambur, he was armed, making it difficult to go anywhere near him,” a police source told TNM. “After a thorough recce, they decided to murder Armstrong outside his under-construction house – they had observed him letting his guard down as he oversaw the construction, making it the ideal spot to execute their plan,” the source added. 

Ponnai Balu, the supposed brains of the operation, is categorised as an ‘A’ rowdy by the police and has eight criminal cases against him, including murder and extortion. But the level of planning that went into Armstrong’s murder did not add up to Balu’s capabilities, police sources claimed. “Ponnai Balu had neither the men nor the financial means to plan and execute a murder of a political heavyweight like Armstrong,” a police source said. 

This is where Suresh’s brother-in-law Arul came into the picture.

According to the police, Arul played a crucial role in planning the murder and in mobilising men, funds, arms and other enemies of Armstrong. 

Arul, who is a lawyer, revealed the involvement of Hariharan in the case, police sources said. Hariharan allegedly arranged funds, country-made bombs, and brought together like-minded rowdies who wanted to get rid of Armstrong. 

Hariharan – a former functionary of the Tamil Manila Congress led by former Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party ally GK Vasan – was arrested and interrogated. That was when he revealed the involvement of ‘Sambo’ Senthil in the murder, investigators said. 

Motive 2: Real estate rivalry

Armstrong was known for his political leadership in north Chennai. But the politician is also said to have had undisputed sway over the real estate deals in north Chennai, in fact all of north Tamil Nadu. And in this aspect, he supposedly had one rival: ‘Sambo’ Senthil. 

‘Sambo’ Senthil is an advocate-turned-history-sheeter who hails from Thoothukudi and belongs to the dominant Nadar community. Named an accused in at least three cases of murder, Senthil has never been arrested and has been operating underground for 20 years, according to the police. “No one has seen him in the last two decades,” a police source said. 

No one, that is, except his henchmen and allies, including advocate Hariharan, who practises at the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, Egmore.

Motive 3: Realpolitik

“Armstrong Annan was a formidable leader who ruled Madras, nothing happened here without his approval,” declared director Pa Ranjith in a fiery speech delivered at a rally held on July 20, demanding justice for Armstrong’s murder. 

The slain leader’s party, BSP, has called it a political killing. “Armstrong was an undisputed Bahujan leader not only of north Chennai, but of the whole of north Tamil Nadu,” said BSP spokesperson Muthukrishnan in a conversation with TNM. “If someone wants to gain political growth in these areas, they need to politically organise Dalits. Armstrong had successfully done that, which is why he was killed.”

“No one thought Armstrong’s murder would become a huge issue for the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government and the police. The latter thought it would be seen as a killing due to gang rivalry and did not expect such outpouring of support for Armstrong from various quarters,” said a local BSP functionary. 

While the police have denied that this is a political killing, the custodial interrogation of Ponnai Balu and Arul has led to the arrest of a politician — N Aswathaman, an advocate and a former office-bearer of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu. 

Ashwathaman is the son of Nagenderan, a history-sheeter from Royapuram in north Chennai who belongs to a Scheduled Caste community. He has been in jail for the past 27 years after he was convicted in the murder of former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MLA Stanley Shanmugam. “Nagenderan has been operating his gang from behind bars and they are active in Chennai. In December 2023, when he was out on parole, he told his men that he was going to finish off Armstrong,” a police officer said. 

According to the police, both Nagenderan and Aswathaman played a role in backing Armstrong’s murderers. “We have proof of meetings that took place between Aswathaman, Ponnai Balu, and Arul, and have obtained documentary evidence to prove the father-son duo’s involvement in the murder,” the officer added. 

Nagenderan was reportedly a tough nut to crack for the police. However, a few details that he gave were crucial to establish a motive for his involvement in the crime, including that he was angry with Armstrong because he “ruined” his son Aswathaman’s life. “Nagenderan wanted his son to become a Member of Parliament. But he did not get a ticket as he had been booked in a few cases under the Arms Act. Nagenderan believed that it was Armstrong who conspired against his son and ensured that the cases were slapped against him,” a police source said. 

The personal may be political, but the BSP Tamil Nadu state unit is unwilling to accept the police findings about Aswathaman and Nagenderan. The party has pointed fingers at another Dalit leader – Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president and Sriperumbudur MLA Selvaperunthagai. “BSP believes that Congress’ Selvaperunthagai may have been involved, but why is the police not questioning him?” Muthukrishnan asked. 

Police sources told TNM that they have reached out to BSP functionaries seeking proof to back their claims, but so far have not received any ‘actionable information’ on Selvaperunthagai’s involvement in the case. 

Selvaperunthagai meanwhile has termed the allegations false and baseless, and the Congress has filed a complaint against BSP functionaries. In the complaint, Chairman of TNCC Legal Wing K Chandramohan said that Nagenderan and Aswathaman had not been inducted into the Congress party or assigned any posts by Selvaperunthagai. “In fact, Aswathaman was removed from the primary membership of the Congress party after his involvement in the Armstrong case came to light,” Chandramohan added.

Too many crooks?

While the police are convinced that they have a watertight case, criminal lawyers who have been closely monitoring the Armstrong murder have raised questions over the large number of accused who have been arrested. Does the police have enough evidence to prove their roles in the crime?

A top police officer who is part of the investigation told TNM that they have adequate proof and have managed to obtain solid evidence against the accused. “Considering the sensitive nature of the crime, we have managed to gather evidence to prove the involvement of all the accused. We have also relied on scientific and technical evidence to prove their involvement,” the officer said.

Another officer told TNM that a water-tight case has been built and the chargesheet will reveal the role of all those who have been involved in the murder. 

However, a criminal lawyer observed that when too many accused are added to a case, it becomes difficult for the prosecution to prove their involvement. “The police may have obtained evidence against the eight men who murdered Armstrong. There is CCTV footage, and forensic evidence would also have been gathered to prove their involvement. However, in the case of the other accused, it remains to be seen whether police have enough material,” the lawyer said. 

This report has been republished from The News Minute as part of The News Minute-Newslaundry alliance. Click here to support our work.