Chennai: Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy on Monday justified the police action in opening fire at a prime suspect in the Bahujan Samaj Party leader murder case and said all those arrested in the case were the real culprits.
Police had no option but to open fire at the murder suspect who attacked them, he said.
"Police can only shoot at and nab the culprits who try to escape after attacking the police. What else can be done?" he asked during a brief interaction with the media here.
On July 14, police shot at the murder suspect K Thiruvengadam when he allegedly opened fire at the police and attempted to flee after he was taken to a spot here to recover the weapons that he and others used to kill TN BSP chief K Armstrong on July 5. Thiruvengadam later succumbed.
The Law Minister said the state government was determined to curb criminal activities.
Asked about BJP state chief K Annamalai's suspicion over the death of Thiruvengadam, Regupathy replied "the police recovered CCTV footages of Thiruvengadam involved in the murder of Armstrong. Only the real culprits in the murder case have been arrested."
Published 15 July 2024, 12:50 IST