Who is ‘Sambo’ Senthil, the elusive Chennai gangster suspected to be involved in Armstrong’s murder?

CHENNAI: Fifty days after the murder of BSP Tamil Nadu unit president K Armstrong in Chennai, more than two dozen suspects have been nabbed and one them was shot dead by the Chennai police in an “encounter”. But there is one man who is yet to be snagged in the police net: notorious gangster Senthil, known in the police and criminal circles as ‘Sambavam’ or ‘Sambo’ Senthil.

So elusive is the history sheeter from North Chennai that the police did not even have his recent photograph despite him being on their radar for years together.

Who is this man? Senthil, believed to be 44 years old now, is ‘officially’ said to be a resident of Tondiarpet but not many believe he resides there. Some say he has escaped to a foreign country along with his family to escape the police heat after the brutal murder of Armstrong.

AR: Armstrong murder case: One more person detained; 28 arrested so far

After entering the world of crime, his area of interest has remained the same as most other criminals here: land grabbing and kangaroo courts.

This came with its own risk due to the fight over supremacy with other gangsters like ‘CD’ Mani who controls the ever-growing real estate activities in south Chennai and ‘Kakkathope’ Balaji who lords over the business in North Chennai.

When DT Next tried to collect more details about the gangster following an audacious daylight country bomb attack on Balaji by the members of the gang in 2020, a senior officer said State and central agencies were hot on his pursuit after getting a tipoff that he was in touch with Khaja Moideen, the self-styled leader of the IS module in Tamil Nadu.

“It is learnt that he developed contacts with Khaja Moideen when the latter was lodged in Puzhal central prison,” said sources, suspecting that the gangster could have been using these contacts and influence to settle scores in ongoing battle over north Chennai underworld.

However, the sleuths were finding it difficult to track Senthil’s phone number or crack his communication method because of the technologies and tools he used.

“His name is ‘Sambavam’ Senthil, which was shortened to ‘Sambo’ Senthil. He is a law graduate and is accused in at least three murder cases. The police have not arrested him so far because they don’t know where to look for him, though he is ‘officially’ a resident of Tondiarpet,” an official had told DT Next then.

Now, the officers probing Armstrong murder case have finally managed to obtain his recent photograph from his ex-wife, who was interrogated to know about his whereabouts.

His close aide and advocate, ‘Mottai’ Krishnan, is another person whom the police have been hunting for, but in vain. Some say he, too, has escaped the country and was in Singapore at least for a while. It is not clear if he is still there.

Reports said noted Tamil film director Nelson Dilip Kumar’s wife Monisha was questioned by the police in connection with Armstrong murder after allegedly finding a transaction running into several crores of rupees between her and Krishnan. They also spoke over the phone for around an hour. That prompted the officials to summon Monisha earlier this month to know what the money was for and what they spoke about at such length.