C. N. Lakshmikanthan Biography 
C. N. Lakshmikanthan was a famous journalist in the Madras Presidency of British rule whose murder was one of the great sensational cases in the pre-independent era of south India. The prime suspects included Tamil film actors M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan and director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu. This case which remained in the limelight for a long time is unsolved till now.
Thyagaraja Bhagavathar was the glowing star of Tamil cinema then, at the career peak, and same was the case of leading comedian of silver screen N. S. Krishnan and for the same reason, murder of the journalist found place in the high-profile murder cases of 1940s. Thyagaraja and Krishnan were imprisoned, which virtually ended the career of both. Later when they were released after found innocent, it was too late! Thyagaraja who once ate in golden plates, died in 1959 in penury, spending all his money to fight the case. Both the legendary actors died in the late 1950s in their middle ages.
Lakshmikantham originally wanted to become a lawyer, which his family was not able to afford. Later he entered the field of journalism in 1943, by launching a film weekly called Cinema Thoothu the same year. The film magazine very soon turned to be a big success. Randor Guy, a famous historian pointed out that Lakshmikantham had a dark past with a criminal record who had been deported to the Andamans. Once he returned after the jail term, he made a fresh start as a journalist which made him successful.
It’s said that he targeted high profile politicians, artists, businessmen, landlords etc through his columns. He wrote salacious and scandalous sex stories about them purely on the basis of gossips and hearsay, without any solid proofs. Being afraid of ill fame, some of them gave him huge amounts of money to silence him, which prompted him to write more. He also had numerous enemies from all walks of life. Actors M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar and N. S. Krishnan and director S. M. Sriramulu Naidu submitted a memorandum to the Governor of Madras to revoke the license for the magazine, and was finally forced to stop. He later started a yellow magazine called 'Hindu Nesan' and continued with the same stories, mainly targeting Thyagaraja and others.
The fatal incident took place on November 8, 1944 when he was attacked by a group of unknown assailants in Purasawalkam, Downtown Madras. One of them stabbed him in the stomach, and on the way to hospital he wrote his statement at the police station. He didn’t name any person though. It was reported that he wanted to expose the murderers involved in the Boat Mail murder. Though his wound was not severe, he was found dead the following day morning under mysterious conditions.
Published: N/A
Updated: February 27, 2016
