Some morning walks have left behind a bloody trail in Tamil Nadu in this millennium. High-profile individuals, including politicians, have met with a gory end during their morning walks when they were attacked by assailants. The earliest such case occurred on December 30, 2001, when the former AIADMK MLA, M.K. Balan, did not return home from his routine walk on a misty morning in Chennai. His son lodged a complaint with the Foreshore Estate Police and filed a habeas corpus petition in the Madras High Court.
What unfolded in the investigation is a spine-chilling sequence of abduction for ransom, wrongful detention for several days, murder and disposal of the body with a fake death certificate to erase evidence. A week after the police found no clues, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch-CID. Amid mounting pressure from political parties and the media that floated conspiracies, it took more than two months for the CB-CID to get the first lead.
