Two murders in 2 days in Coimbatore; Opposition alleges law and order failure

AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami tweets that under the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu, people are scared to step out of their homes.

Police said the deceased, Gokul, a resident of Keeranatham, and his friend Manoj from Sivanandhapuram had arrived at the court for a murder case hearing when a gang of unidentified men attacked them with machetes. (Photo/Screenshot)

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A day after a 31-year-old who worked for a realtor was hacked to death by a gang at Nava India in Coimbatore, a 24-year-old was killed at Gopalapuram near the combined court campus in the city in Tamil Nadu on Monday afternoon.

Police said the deceased, Gokul, a resident of Keeranatham, and his friend Manoj from Sivanandhapuram had arrived at the court for a murder case hearing when a gang of unidentified men attacked them with machetes. A purported video of the incident was shared widely on social media. In the video, the gang members can be seen walking on the road after the murder.

Manoj, who received a cut as well, managed to escape from the gang and is admitted to hospital for treatment. Gokul’s body was sent for a postmortem.

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Coimbatore police commissioner V Balakrishnan told indianexpress.com that as per the initial investigation, the incident might have resulted from previous enmity and that police had formed five special teams to nab the attackers and were analysing CCTV visuals.

The Opposition AIADMK and BJP have questioned the law and order situation in the state.

AIADMK interim general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, listing incidents like the Coimbatore murders and the ATM robbery in Tiruvannamalai, tweeted that people were scared to step out of their homes under the “ineffective” DMK-led government’s rule. He urged the chief minister to take immediate measures to ensure public safety.

BJP state chief K Annamalai said that Coimbatore was becoming a “murder city”. He said that ever since the DMK had assumed power, law and order had deteriorated and crimes increased across the state.

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He alleged that police had their hands tied and that the DMK government had sent the entire cabinet for the Erode East bypoll campaign, leaving the public to suffer.

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