Political murders continue

By S. Shivakumar

An armed gang barged into Urappakkam Panchayat Union Office on March 29 around 11 a.m. While a member of the gang stood guard, three others, at knife-point asked the hangers-on at the panchayat office to flee.

In a swift and brutal operation, they attacked the Panchayat Union President, Ms. Menaka, and sped away from the scene. The victim's brother, Mr. Nehru, who attempted to protect his sister also suffered bleeding injuries.

Acccording to a fact-finding team of the Tamil Nadu Federation of Women Presidents (TNFWP) of Panchayat Government, the murder of the ``popular'' panchayat chief was a fall-out of political rivalry. Moreover, the team said they suspected a real estate problem to be the prime cause for the murder.

But another story is also doing the rounds among the residents of Urapakkam. As Ms.Menaka was a serious contender for the DMK ticket to contest in the Tiruporur Assembly constituency, her rivals in the party who felt threatened by her ``popularity'' could have eliminated her.

Though five persons have surrendered in connection with the murder, the TNFWP has charged that police are yet to take action against the ``real culprits''.

Settling political scores through cold-blooded murders is nothing new in Tamil Nadu politics. And, the murder of Ms.Menaka is only another grim reminder of the administration's failure to check the violence that has come to grip politics.

Police records reveal that during the past few months at least five persons owing allegiance to political parties have been murdered in Chengalpattu district alone and in the last three years there have been 12 political murders in the district.

Two years ago, two AIADMK functionaries had been murdered in a span of two months. While the party's Kancheepuram unit deputy secretary was murdered on October 29, in 1999 the Kattankalathur panchayat unit leader, T. A. Adikesavan of Chengalpattu was hacked to death the next month.

However, the recent murder of Ms. Menaka has rung the alarm bells as police fear there could be more such acts of violence, what with the elections round the corner.

One of the main reasons for these murders is that politicians do not stop with verbal clash any more. Thanks to their ``pervasive influence'' , the political hirelings manage to escape from the clutches of law. The conviction rate for those arrested in connection with these cases is abysmally low.

Even the two sensational political murder cases of the last decade - the killing of Elumalai Naicker and Siva, both MDMK functionaries of North Chennai - are pending trial.

The murder of Elumalai Naicker, a front ranking leader of the MDMK, in April 1994, was one of the most sensational political murders reported in the city. Elumalai was a powerful political functionary and was given police security.

Yet, he was attacked by an armed gang when he was talking to a friend in Royapuram. The incident was also a fallout of the fight for supremacy between two gangs which were attempting to control the truck operations in the harbour, police said.

Three years later, another MDMK functionary and harbour contractor, G. V. Siva, was hacked to death by a 20-member gang at Madha Koil Street in North Chennai in the early hours of January 22, in 1997. On the fateful day, he was trapped when a flower bedecked car was parked on the road through which he travelled everyday.

When Siva and his associate stepped out of the vehicle unsuspectingly to verify about the car, the gang hiding in the adjacent bylanes rushed and attacked him.

The delay in the judicial process and the legal procedures is also cited as one of the main reasons for criminals getting emboldened. Shoddy investigation by police is another reason.

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