In the past few weeks, the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has faced consistent criticism from the Opposition about a “deteriorating law-and-order situation” in the state amid the murder of five political workers in the state this month.
While the preliminary probes into the killings have revealed gang or personal rivalries, the inquiries also point to criminal elements’ effective use of political affiliations. But, according to the police, there was no political motive at play in these murders.
First was the murder of Tamil Nadu BSP chief K Armstrong, who was hacked to death in Chennai on July 6. The police attributed it to gang rivalry. The assailants, the police said, believed Armstong, who was named in at least a dozen criminal cases, was behind the murder of gangster Arcot Suresh in 2023. Armstrong and Suresh, both Dalits, were involved in a dispute over a Rs 2,000 crore financial fraud in Chennai. The police arrested the key accused and ruled out political or communal motives.
Ten days later, Naam Tamilar Katchi’s Madurai North deputy secretary C Balasubramanian was murdered while he was out for a morning walk. The police said a family dispute was behind the murder. Balasubramanian, who had 20 criminal cases against him, allegedly used his political connections to imprison the family of his niece’s husband. The police ruled out political motives, claiming it was an act of “family revenge”.
Three more political workers were murdered over the weekend, escalating concerns about the state’s law-and-order situation. On Saturday night, BJP’s district functionary Selvakumar was killed near Sivaganga. The police arrested five men, attributing the murder to a long-standing dispute between the Maravar and Agamudayar communities, two powerful subgroups of the Other Backward Class (OBC) Mukkalathur community. The police claimed that Selvakumar, who had four criminal cases against him, was targeted in a revenge attack for a 2019 murder in which assailants suspected the direct role of Selvakumar’s son.
On Sunday morning, a six-member gang killed the husband of a Congress councillor in Kanyakumari, identified as Jackson, over a driving dispute dating back to December, the police said. Two assailants were arrested on Monday. Meanwhile, in the early hours of Sunday, an AIADMK office-bearer, identified as Padmanabhan, was murdered in Cuddalore. Padmanabhan had been named in a murder case in September in which the victim was stoned to death. The victim’s relatives are among those arrested.
The Opposition has seized on the spate of killings in an attempt to corner the government. AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami claimed 595 murders occurred in 2024 and demanded police autonomy to prevent crimes. State BJP president K Annamalai accused the DMK government of failing to maintain law and order, stating anti-social elements were thriving under its rule.
An analysis of figures from the past four years shows that Tamil Nadu averages four murders a day from January to June. In 2020, there were 770 murders in the state, or a daily average of four, in these months. The following year the murder count rose marginally to 774 in this period. In 2022, the state recorded 816 murders in the first half of the year but in 2023 and 2024 it came down 777 and 778 respectively.
Sources in the criminal investigation wing of Tamil Nadu Police said there was no established mafia gang operating in the state at the moment. “The last such mafia leader was Sridhar Dhanapalan,” said one official.
Dhanapalan, who was referred to in police circles as the “Dawood of Tamil Nadu”, ended his life in Cambodia in 2017. At one point, Dhanapalan was the state’s most wanted criminal and worth at least Rs 500 crore. He owned a luxury apartment, taxi service, and oil businesses in Dubai. In his only media interview, with The Indian Express in January 2016, Dhanapalan said, “I am not a Gandhi or Buddha. I am not Jesus either. If someone slaps me on one cheek, I wouldn’t offer the other. What happened to Jesus? He was deceived by Judas for just 30 silver coins. I don’t like problems, but I am ready to fight anyone who tries to harm me.”
On the links between crime and politics in Tamil Nadu, retired Madras High Court judge K Chandru said the absence of a political motive behind the recent killings of political workers was due to the changing character of recruitment by the parties.
“Earlier, the district secretaries ruled the parties. Now, there are more positions and mass fronts locally, such as youth, women, and lawyers’ wings. Anti-social elements exploit these changes. They join for immunity or to avoid arrests, getting letterheads for local influence. Parties also compete to get them on board … Tamil Nadu is politicised but not everyone here is a political individual. Unlike in Kerala, none of these recent murders were political or organised political crimes due to this complex mix of people entering parties,” said Justice Chandru.
Among the major parties, the BJP in recent times has faced the allegation of admitting people with criminal records into the party. In 2022, “Padappai” Guna, a man with an extensive criminal record, was admitted into the BJP by veteran leader Pon Radhakrishnan and given a key post. Meanwhile, recently, former state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan said “anti-social elements” should not be admitted into the organisation, with Soundararajan hinting that the yardsticks she had set during her time at the helm of the state unit were not being followed. “I discouraged anti-social elements. But now, many such elements hold positions. This should be prevented. Ordinary cadres deserve their space …,” she said.
