Tamil Nadu: Cop beaten to death after confronting men bursting firecrackers, 3 held

Three individuals were arrested for beating a senior police officer to death in Tamil Nadu’s Theni district, police said on Monday.

“We have arrested three of them right now. I cannot share any other details in this matter,” an officer told HT. Theni sub-division police also registered a case against the three.

Investigations revealed that the 56-year-old Senthilkumar, a Theni district superintendent of police, was returning home when he saw the three bursting firecrackers in the middle of the road at Samadharampuram on Sunday night.

He questioned them for causing inconvenience to the public. When they ignored him, he took a video of them on his mobile phone, triggering an argument.

A scuffle then broke out during which one of them allegedly hit the officer hard with a rod following which the officer collapsed, police said.

A patrol team nearby took the officer to the district government hospital and despite medical intervention, the officer was declared dead on Monday.

The body has been taken for an autopsy, an officer said.

Meanwhile, superintendent of police KS Praveen Gowtham visited the site on Monday and conducted an inquiry into the incident.

The death of the officer in Theni is one of several crimes that occurred across various districts on Sunday over the last 24 hours. Theni is about 600km south of Chennai.

Several political parties including the main opposition in the assembly Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) slammed the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) over the murder of the officer in Theni and other incidents stating the law and order situation has worsened in Tamil Nadu.