EPS upset over swift action on Tirunelveli murder: Minister Regupathy

CHENNAI: Facing flak from the opposition for the gruesome murder of a youth in Tirunelveli in broad daylight, State law minister S Regupathy on Friday clarified that the accused were arrested within a couple of hours and Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami was jealous and hence he was blatantly lying on the issue.

In a message posted on his ‘X’ page, Regupathy said that the police officers on security duty chased away the killers and caught one of them, while the others who had fled in a car were also arrested by the police within two hours of the murder. Regupathy said, “Unable to bear the fact that the killers were arrested so quickly, the opposition leader has, as usual, started telling the blatant lie that law and order is not in order.”

Recalling the infamous statement of EPS during his chief ministership that he learnt about the brutal shooting of 13 innocent people in Thoothukudi (anti-Sterlite protests) on TV the next morning, the law minister said that EPS has no right to talk about the law and order situation in the state.

Citing the Sathankulam double custodial murder, Pollachi sex racket scam, and the Kodanadu murder cum heist that took place in the previous AIADMK regime, Regupathy wondered if the LoP had forgotten how people were even scared to step out of their homes in the previous regime.

Drawing a parallel between the criminal cases registered under IPC in 2020 (8.91 lakh) and in 2022 (1.93 lakh), the minister said that the data would help people comprehend the astronomical difference between the two regimes, but only one person would not understand that.

Likening Palaniswami to modern-day Nero, Regupathy said that the LoP was jealous of the Dravidian model government led by Chief Minister MK Stalin.