Chennai, Aug 4 (IANS) An Inspector with the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) has been arrested following allegations that he extorted several lakhs of rupees from a businessman by threatening to implicate him in the 2024 murder of Tamil Nadu BSP leader K. Armstrong.
The action was taken after Akil Kumar, 35, a share market trader, approached the Chennai City Police headquarters with a complaint against Inspector Muhammed Buhari.
Kumar alleged that the officer had repeatedly demanded money from him over the past two years by claiming that a mobile phone number linked to him had surfaced during the investigation into Armstrong’s murder.
According to the complaint, Kumar had earlier shared the mobile number with an acquaintance who is a lawyer.
He maintained that he had no connection whatsoever with Armstrong’s killing. Kumar alleged that Buhari used the phone number’s purported link to the investigation to threaten him with being named as an accused unless he paid money.
The Inspector allegedly initially demanded several lakhs of rupees and subsequently collected additional amounts from the trader on different occasions.
The latest alleged demand was made last Saturday when Buhari visited Kumar’s residence and sought Rs 5 lakh.
According to the complaint, the money was subsequently handed over to a policeman near the Washermanpet Metro railway station.
Following Kumar’s complaint, senior police officers initiated an enquiry into the allegations. Buhari was subsequently arrested, and further investigation is underway to establish the extent of the alleged extortion and determine whether any other police personnel were involved.
Buhari had earlier figured prominently in police operations connected with the Armstrong murder investigation. He was involved in the police shooting in which Thiruvenkadam, one of the suspects in the case, was killed in July 2024.
The Inspector was also involved in another police shooting in March 2025, when a suspect allegedly linked to a series of chain-snatching incidents in Chennai was shot dead.
The development comes as the investigation into Armstrong’s murder has moved to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Armstrong, who headed the BSP’s Tamil Nadu unit, was murdered in Chennai in July 2024, triggering widespread attention and a major police investigation involving several suspects.
The CBI has since taken over the investigation into the killing, while the allegations against Buhari are being investigated separately by the city police.
—IANS
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