Madurai: Two police officials, "who played a key role" in the investigation of the murder of former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) minister T Kiruttinan on May 20 were suspended, police said on June 18.

Inspector general police Rajendran, who issued the suspension order on June 18 night, said assistant commissioner of police Hariharan and sub-inspector Sundaresan "had committed dereliction of duty" by allowing advocate Mohan Kumar to accompany Azhagiri, the prime accused in the murder of Kiruttinan, from Madurai to Tiruchirappalli prison and back after he was remanded, police said.

They said the escort police had "forgotten" even to take the warrant from the court when Azhagiri, elder son of DMK leader and former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi, was remanded on June 4. "They had to stop the van carrying Azhagiri and wait for two hours to get the warrant. This was a serious lapse on the part of the investigation team," police said.

PTI