Armstrong murder case: Country-made bombs were given to killers on Madras HC court premises, says State

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the State to probe into the allegations that the country-made bombs used in the assassination of BSP leader K Armstrong were handed over to the accused on the court premises.

A division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and M Jothiraman expressed their shock after the State's submission that the bombs recovered from the murder scene were brought into the high court premises and handed over to a gang involved in the murder.

The bench was hearing a batch of cases seeking to quash the goondas act provisions slapped against the accused booked in the murder case. Additional Advocate General (AAG) P Kumaresan, on behalf of the police, submitted that the investigation revealed that the accused had used the high court campus to exchange the bombs.

The probe revealed other crucial conspiracies that were hatched to murder Armstrong, besides using country-made bombs, said the AAG.

He also sought the court's permission to tag the cases along with other batches of cases related to the same crime, which are pending in another court.

The counsel for the petitioners objected to the submission and sought to proceed with a separate hearing.

After the submission, the bench directed the police to conduct a separate probe into the allegation of bombs brought into the court and adjourned the matter to January.

The country-made bombs were part of a backup plan of the gang that had hacked State BSP chief K Armstrong to death near the site of his under-construction house at Perambur. They had intended to hurl the bombs at Armstrong on July 5 if he managed to escape from them.

According to the chargesheet filed in the murder case, arrested lawyers Harikrishnan and Arul were given the explosives inside lunch bags in a car parking lot in the Madras High Court premises, said a Maalaimalar report.

The murder of the national party leader in a public place had sent shock waves among the political leaders and the public. Many even alleged lapses in the law and order of the State.

Later, the police narrowed down on the accused and arrested 28 of them. During the process of securing pieces of evidence, the police shot one of them, notorious gangster Thiruvengadam, as he allegedly tried to escape from the clutches of the police. The two other key accused, ‘Sambavam’ Senthil and Mottai Krishna are still at large.

(With additional inputs from Online Desk)