Palaniswami flays Stalin after Chennai top cop transferred: ‘Law and order can be handled only by…’

Law and order situation cannot be handled only by transferring an officer, ex-Tamil Nadu chief minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami said on Monday, hours after the state government transferred Chennai's Police Commissioner.

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IPS officer Sandeep Rai Rathore was transferred days after the murder of K Armstrong, the Tamil Nadu unit president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). A Arun has been appointed as the new chief of the city police.

“Law and order can be guarded only by ensuring proper governance. The chief minister himself holds the portfolio of the police department…had he led the department efficiently, law and order could have been maintained well,” Palaniswami, general secretary of the opposition AIADMK, told reporters.

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Calling chief minister MK Stalin ‘puppet' and 'inept,’ Palaniswami alleged that not giving ‘complete freedom’ to the police has led to failure in maintaining law and order.

The former CM further claimed that under the Stalin-led ruling DMK, the police department has been unable to function 'independently.'

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“This is reason for the prevalence of drugs and for crimes including murders, dacoity, and robbery. Not a single day passes without a murder,” the AIADMK leader added.

Tamil Nadu's Leader of the Opposition also reiterated that ‘there is no safety for anyone including political leaders in the state.’

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Speaking on the K Armstrong murder case, Palaniswami remarked that the ‘actual perpetrators’ are yet to be arrested.

“People surrendered…they were not arrested. It is the government's duty to clear the air,” he demanded.

(With PTI inputs)