Chennai: Two political workers from Tamil Nadu have been murdered in less than 24 hours -- one of them in neighbouring Puducherry. Selvakumar, a BJP worker from Sivaganga district was found murdered last night. In neighbouring Puducherry, Padmanabhan, AIADMK's Ward Secretary from Cuddalore district, was killed.
Selvakumar was president of the party's district cooperative wing, and an accused in a murder case. Investigators have said the murder had its roots in personal enmity.
A senior officer told NDTV, "Selvakumar was into the brick kiln business... We have identified the suspect. Personal enmity appears to be the cause of murder".
Padmanabhan was first hit by a car while he was returning on a motorbike. Then he was hacked to death. Investigators from Puducherry have rushed to Cuddalore. Police sources suspect this to be a revenge killing.
This is the third murder of a political functionary this month in Tamil Nadu. A few weeks ago, Armstrong, the state chief of Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party, was hacked to death by a six-member gang. Investigators called it a retaliation murder.
Armstrong was suspected of engineering the murder of an alleged rowdie, Arcot Suresh, last year. A week later, an NTK functionary was hacked to death in Madurai. The police had attributed it to a land dispute within the family.
In Kanniyakumari, a Congress councillor's husband, Jackson, a driver, was murdered this morning. The man was hacked to death. The police are on the lookout for a six-member gang.
The murders have come as a huge embarrassment for the ruling DMK, which recently transferred the Chennai Police chief and the Home Secretary. The new police chief is A Arun and Dheeraj Kumar is the new Home Secretary, but one of the accused in the Armstrong murder case was shot dead after the change.
The Opposition AIADMK is targeting the ruling DMK. Its spokesperson Kovai Sathyan said the murders "clearly illustrate the lawlessness in the state and the incompetence of Chief Minister M K Stalin".
"MK Stalin should examine if he has the moral right to continue as Chief Minister," state BJP chief K Annamalai posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The ruling DMK says the law and order situation in the state is far better than in BJP-ruled states. Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau, it has accused the Opposition of playing politics.
DMK spokesperson Dr Hafeezullah said, "A no-crime situation is utopian across the world. What is important is how the government responds and prevents. Chief Minister M K Stalin has dealt with these firmly and professionally".
BJP workers, he said, are involved in several criminal cases "including murder and drugs cases and (party chief) Annamalai should introspect if he should continue as state BJP president," he said.
Even BJP's Tamilisai Soundarajan has said the party admitted criminals without any scrutiny, which "didn't happen" when she headed the party.