Kerala CPI(M) leader killing: 7 more suspects in police custody

The police on Tuesday took into custody seven more persons suspected to be involved in the killing of a local CPI(M) leader on the eve of Independence Day even as both the Left party and the BJP continued to pin the blame on each other for the murder.

A top police officer said seven more suspects were taken into custody bringing the total persons in police custody to 9 and all of them were presently being questioned.

Based on what is revealed during their interrogation, a decision would be taken on recording their arrests, the officer said, adding that as of now it is believed all the persons involved in the crime have been apprehended.

The officer also said that a special investigation team has been constituted to probe the case.

CPI(M) local committee member Shajahan was hacked to death on August 14 night.

The CPI(M) alleged that the attackers were BJP-RSS workers while the latter claimed that the assailants were members of the Left party and internal differences was the reason for the killing of Shajahan.

Even as the CPI(M) and BJP continued to blame each other for the killing, the Congress said an independent probe should be conducted in the case.

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan, speaking to reporters at Malappuram, alleged that the number of killings taking place in the state indicated a failure of the Home Department.

He said the police should be permitted to probe the killing without being restrained in any manner.

Meanwhile, the victim's family told the media that Shajahan was threatened with dire consequences by the accused who were not happy that he won a seat in the local committee.

Thereafter, they did not take part in CPI(M) activities and they threatened to cut him or kill him several times with weapons at different places, a family member said.

However, no one, not even Shajahan, believed they would follow through with their threats, the victim's family members said.

Another family member said that the killing was planned as the assailants first cut his leg so that Shajahan could not run away.

The accused had left the CPI(M) long back and political enmity is the reason for the killing, the family claimed.

On Sunday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a Facebook post, had condemned the killing and said that strict action would be taken against such moves to disturb the peaceful atmosphere in the state and that the police have been directed to leave no stone unturned in its investigation to bring the culprits to justice.

As the CPI(M) and BJP were blaming each other for the killing, police had said that they were trying to verify which party the assailants belonged as according to the FIR the assailants, who were eight in number, were BJP-RSS workers and it was also believed that political enmity was the reason behind the killing.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)