Gangster Nagendran’s son Ajith weds in front of dad’s remains
Nagendran was a life convict in the murder of former AIADMK MLA Stanley Shanmugam, who was hacked to death outside his house in Vyasarpadi on November 8, 1997
Nagendran’s younger son Ajith Raj ties the knot with fiancée beside his father’s body
CHENNAI: Vyasarpadi was fortified over the weekend with hundreds of police swarming the streets to ensure an incident-free funeral of gangster Nagendran, the prime accused in the murder of BSP leader K Armstrong. Nagendran, who was admitted to the Government Stanley Hospital due to deteriorating health conditions, died on Thursday.
Nagendran was a life convict in the murder of former AIADMK MLA Stanley Shanmugam, who was hacked to death outside his house in Vyasarpadi on November 8, 1997. Nagendran and his associate were initially sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by a trial court, which was enhanced to life imprisonment by the Madras High Court.
His elder son, Ashwathaman, a former Youth Congress functionary, who is also an accused in the Armstrong murder case, was granted parole by a city court to attend his deceased father's funeral and his younger son, Ajith Raj, too, who was in jail in another criminal case was granted parole.
While there were no "untoward incidents" during the gangster's funeral, thanks to a heavy police presence, Ajith Raj tied the knot with his fiancée in front of his father's mortal remains, as hundreds of onlookers watched.
Nagendran's postmortem ended on Saturday evening, but his family members refused to collect the mortal remains citing constraints in moving the body from the hospital to Nagendran's neighbourhood in Sathyamoorthy Nagar, Vyasarpadi. The body was finally handed over on Sunday morning for public viewing. On Saturday evening, police arrested Vellai Prakash, a key associate of Nagendran, as a precautionary measure.
Crowds, however, swelled in numbers since Saturday with several of them wanting to have a glimpse of the gangster who reportedly operated from behind bars for several years, police sources said.
The family members placed a pair of boxing gloves alongside Nagendran's mortal remains as a reminder of the dreaded gangster's early days as a boxer.
At least 500 police personnel stood guard along the funeral route from Nagendran's residence to Mullai Nagar burial ground. He was laid to rest on Sunday evening.