Jaya constitutes special team to probe BJP leader's murder

The Tamil Nadu government will constitute a special investigation division (SID) to probe the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit leader “Auditor” Ramesh, who was hacked to death on Friday.

On Sunday, Chief Minister J Jayalalitha said: “I have now instructed the director-general of police (DGP) to immediately constitute an SID to speedily investigate the murder of Auditor Ramesh. This team will also take over the ongoing investigation of the murder of Thiru Vellaiyappan, state secretary of the Hindu Munnani, on July 1 at Vellore.”

The new division will function under the overall control of the DGP (CB-CID), who will be provided with all the resources and manpower necessary to take up and complete the investigation at the earliest, and to bring the culprits to book. Expressing grief over the killing, Jayalalitha said: “I was shocked to learn about the brutal killing of Auditor V Ramesh, the general secretary of the BJP state unit at Salem. I strongly condemn this heinous incident. I wish to convey my heartfelt condolences to the family. Violence and violent crimes, irrespective of whether they are politically motivated or otherwise, have no place in a civilised society and should be rooted out by stern and strong measures.”

The chief minister further said the Tamil Nadu police have always taken prompt and effective action to detect crimes including politically motivated crimes. The police have a Special Investigation team which handles cases of fundamentalist violence.
A recent significant achievement of this team was the arrest of an accused wanted in the pipe-bomb case in Thirumangalam of 2011, in which the target was the BJP leader L K Advani. Reports from Salem said a working committee member of the state BJP, Rajarajeswari, is battling for life after she immolated herself in Salem after hearing the news on Sunday.

Meanwhile, senior BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters in Chennai that the state government should take immediate steps to arrest those who were involved.