BSP leader's killing: Chaos erupts in Chennai as party workers hold protest, halt traffic

CHENNAI: A day after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) President of Tamil Nadu unit K Armstrong was brutally hacked to death, party workers on Saturday gathered outside the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital mortuary in Chennai, where the body of the slain leader has been kept for autopsy.

Chaotic scenes were witnessed outside the mortuary as the BSP leaders and supporters held protest and attempted to break barricades to enter the hospital premises with the police trying to curb them. The protestors also staged a 'road roko' protest.

BSP workers were captured raising slogans demanding the arrest of the culprits and a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The angry party workers also called out on Chief Minister MK Stalin, demanding his resignation. Several BSP workers held a sit-in protest on Poonamallee High Road in Chennai, causing a traffic jam and halting vehicular movements.

Tamil Nadu BSP Chief, Armstrong was hacked to death by a group of unidentified men near his residence in Perambur, Chennai. BSP's Tamil Nadu Vice President Nayayanan Thirupathy lashed out at CM Stalin, demanding his resignation.

Speaking to ANI, Thirupathy said, "The old Madras is becoming a city of murders... Continuous murders and hacking of people to death are happening in the entire state, by anti-social elements, hired gangs and hired police... In the last 2-3 years, we have seen the Dravida model of this DMK government... Where is the police and administration? There is a complete failure of administration in the state. This is mainly because of the drug syndicate..."

The BSP leader stressed that the police be given free hand by the government in order to prevent such incidents. "The government is unable to control the drug syndicate and illicit liquor... Police need to be given a free hand, otherwise, the murders will go on... The police have not taken any precautions and it needs to be investigated how such gangs have suddenly emerged... If the CM is not in a position to control this mess, he must resign", he added.

Meanwhile, CM Stalin also expressed grief over the incident and paid condolences to the slain leader's family. Taking to 'X', the Chief Minister wrote, "Bahujan Samaj Party State President Mr. Armstrong's assassination is shocking and deeply saddening. The police arrested those involved in the murder overnight." "

I would like to convey my deepest condolences to all of Armstrong's party members, family, relatives, and friends who are bereaved, and I have ordered the police officers to conduct the case expeditiously and bring the culprits to justice as per the law," he added.

Chennai police have secured eight suspects so far and formed a special team to investigate the murder of the BSP leader. BSP Chief Mayawati has condemned the gruesome killing of the party's Tamil Nadu president, asking the state government to "punish the guilty."

"The gruesome killing of K. Armstrong, Tamil Nadu state Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president, outside his Chennai house is highly deplorable and condemnable. An advocate by profession, he was known as a strong Dalit voice in the state. The state government must punish the guilty," Mayawati said in a post on X on Friday.