A DMK councillor was on Thursday arrested by Tamil Nadu police over an attack that led to the death of a soldier of the Indian Army.
The death of the soldier in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri sparked off protests by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
On February 8, the soldier, identified as Prabhu, and DMK member Chinnasamy got into a heated exchange over washing clothes near a water tank in the Pochampalli area. Chinnasamy, the councillor, along with nine men, then allegedly attacked 28-year-old Prabhu and his brother Prabhakaran that night.
Prabhu, who was severely wounded in the attack, succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on Tuesday. DMK councillor Chinnasamy, who was on the run, has been arrested by police.
The delayed police action was questioned by the BJP. “A serving soldier on holiday was attacked by a DMK councillor and police took six-seven days to arrest the accused; this has made it a national issue,” Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai said.
Annamalai sought exemplary punishment for the police officials ,too, who didn’t act swiftly. He said he would be starting a fast near the War Memorial in Chennai and it would be attended by retired servicemen. Annamalai said that in Dravidian politics, servicemen weren’t given due respect and were looked at as “aliens”.
BJP workers protested in Krishnagiri on Thursday against Prabhu’s killing by the councillor.
DMK councillor arrested for beating army soldier to death in Tamil Nadu’s Krishnagiri.
BJP leader Khushbu Sundar slammed the law-and-order situation in Tamil Nadu and said “goondaism and failing law and order in my state is scaring and worrying too”.
Khushbu Sundar also questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s stand on the issue. Congress is an ally of DMK. Attacks on Army men won’t be tolerated, she tweeted.
DMK, which is in office in Tamil Nadu, tried to project the crime as an isolated, “local incident”.
“There was a murder & Police have taken action. It was a local issue where a small quarrel got escalated and resulted in murder. All those (involved) have been arrested,” DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan said on the incident.