Two days after witnessing a brutal murder of a BJP leader in Chennai, the state had seen the arrest of the prime suspects in connection with the killing. Amid the protests by the state BJP unit, the Tamil Nadu police have zeroed in on their manhunt and had nabbed the suspects from Salem, around 340 kilometres from Chennai, where they were in a hideout. The arrest had come after an FIR was filed against three people.

30-year-old Balachander, who was serving as the minority wing secretary in Chennai district BJP, was brutally murdered by a gang of three people on May 24 in a bustling street in Chintadripet, Chennai. While the BJP had protested against the crime and accused the ruling DMK government of flawed law and situation in the state, the Tamil Nadu police have formed special teams to nab the assailants. Balachander also had a case against him over inciting violence. 

As Balachander was facing life threats, he was provided with a personal security officer by the Tamil Nadu Home Department. He was standing at a tea stall on the busy Swamy Naickar street in Chintadripet and at around 7.50 pm on Tuesday, a three-member gang had attacked Balachander and hacked him to death. With severe injuries, he was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, where he was declared dead. The incident, which had happened in full public view, had drawn huge attention across and beyond the state. 

It has been reported that the incident could have occurred when the personal security officer was not with Balachander. Following the incident, the police had on Wednesday filed an FIR against three people- Sanjay, Kalaivanan, and Pradeep under various sections including section 302- the murder of the Indian Penal Code. The police have said that the murder may have been carried out as a result of personal enmity between Balachander and Pradeep. 

Earlier, Balachander and his relatives had filed a complaint against Pradeep, accusing him of asking for mamool (bribe) to run a garment shop. Based on the complaint filed by Balachander, Pradeep was arrested and later got released from prison. It has been suspected that Pradeep and his two associates Sanjay and Kalaivanan had plotted to take revenge on Balachander for his complaint. 

The police have obtained CCTV footage from nearby areas and have launched a manhunt to nab the assailants. Their search has led them to Salem, where the three suspects were hiding. The officials had traced and located the mobile numbers of the suspects in Salem. The police had rushed to Kunjampalayam near Thevoor in Salem where the suspects had a haven at a home. 

With the help of the local police, a special team from Chennai had apprehended Pradeep, Sanjay, Kalaivanan, and Jothi. After arresting them, the police had brought the suspects to Chennai and as per the preliminary reports, the police had found that there was a personal enmity between them and Balachander that prompted them to kill the latter. 

According to our sources, Balachander had filed also filed a complaint against Pradeep's father Mohan for threatening the traders to bribe him. As Balachander was with the BJP, he had used his influence against Mohan and based on his complaint, the police had arrested Mohan, which had angered Pradeep. After learning that Balachander wasn't escorted by his personal security officer, Pradeep and his associates had surrounded the BJP leader and hacked him to death.  

The police had further found out that a lawyer based in Chennai had been in contact with the suspects and that lawyer had asked the suspects to come to Salem and get surrendered in the local court. The lawyer had arranged a hideout for the suspects in Salem and they had stayed in Kunjampalayam at the residence of Kutty (a) Palaniswami, who didn't know that there were the suspects in a murder case. 

Palaniswami had accommodated the suspects based on the inputs from a local lawyer. The police are also investigating whether more people have a connection to the crime. The suspects were taken into custody. Earlier, reacting to the death of a BJP leader, Tamil Nadu BJP President Annamalai had slammed the ruling DMK government over the flawed law and order situation. He said that no one is safe in the state. He further urged the police to immediately arrest the assailants responsible for the murder. In a social media post, Annamalai said, "The government is inactive and the police are of no use to the common man. The police must immediately find and arrest the killers."