Armstrong murder: Three more arrested

Chennai: Three more persons have been arrested in connection with BSP leader K Armstrong’s killing, police said on Sunday.

The arrested were identified as 21-year-old N Vijayakumar, V Mukilan (32) and N Vignesh, aged 27 years, police said.

They were produced before a local court on Sunday and remanded to 15 days custody.

The latest arrest takes the number of persons under police custody in the high-profile murder case to 20. K Thiruvengadam, an accused in the case, was shot dead here on July 14 by police.

Following his arrest, Thiruvengadam was taken to a spot in the city, as part of the investigation to recover weapons. A key accused in the case, he allegedly opened fire at police personnel and attempted to flee from their custody. Police had said that in an act of self-defence they fired at him and he was dead.

On July 5, Armstrong, the state president of the Bahujan Samaj Party was hacked to death here by a gang and the murder led to widespread outrage. Opposition parties, including the AIADMK, alleged there has been a deterioration of law and order in the state.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami had batted for a CBI investigation into the Armstrong murder case. BSP supremo and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati, among many other leaders, had also made a similar plea.