Five accused in Armstrong murder case granted bail

Five persons accused in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party leader K. Armstrong have been granted mandatory bail on the ground that the Central Bureau of Investigation has not yet submitted its final report while they have been in jail for more than two years without trial.

Sources said almost all those arrested and in custody in connection with the case have now been granted bail.

On the evening of July 5, 2024, Armstrong was hacked to death by a gang of nine members. Armstrong was taken to Apollo Hospital, Greams Road, but died en route.

Based on the complaint, the Sembia police registered a case and formed special teams. The suspects were arrested in quick succession. A total of 30 people were accused, including three women. Gangsters Nagendran and Sambav Senthil were among them. Nagendran later died of ill health while another accused, Thiruvenkadam, was killed in the encounter. Sambav Senthil and his associate Mottai Krishnan remain on the run.

On 24 September 2025, the Madras High Court quashed the chargesheet filed by the Sembia police and handed over the investigation to the CBI, citing concerns about the thoroughness and impartiality of the state police investigation. The state government later withdrew its plea in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, more than 15 accused, including Aswathaman, have been granted bail. The CBI took over the case and re-registered it as RC No. 09/S/2026 on 6 August 2026. Five other accused, including Manny alias Manivannan, subsequently approached the High Court seeking bail.

Long imprisonment

Defense counsel Muthamizh Selvan said the accused had been in judicial custody for more than two years and that the earlier charge sheet had been dropped. He alleged that the CBI did not examine any witness for a considerable time after taking over the investigation and that the continued imprisonment violated the accused’s right to speedy investigation and trial.

The CBI Special Public Prosecutor opposed the petitions and said the agency was actively investigating the case, including questioning and re-examining key witnesses and examining electronic records, financial transactions and the roles of untraced co-conspirators. Granting bail at this stage would jeopardize the investigation into the remaining conspiracy links, the prosecutor said.

Allowing the bail pleas, Chief Justice B. Karthikyan noted that the CBI had not examined a single witness in the month leading up to the hearing. Noting that the earlier investigation had recorded the statements of 237 witnesses, the judge said the volume of material now before the CBI indicated the enormity of the task facing the agency.

“It does not appear that the investigation will be completed in a short period of time,” the judge noted. The judge also noted that the accused had already spent more than two years in custody and that the investigation remained at the FIR stage after quashing the earlier final report.

Published – 19 Sep 2026 23:47 IST