KOTTAYAM: Five people, suspected to be directly involved in the murder of SDPI state secretary KS Shan, were taken into custody by the police from different parts of Alappuzha on Friday. This is the first time that persons suspected to be directly involved in the murder were taken into custody.
Sources said their arrests will be recorded after a detailed interrogation. Also, Maneesh (33) from Cherthala South and Sanal Kumar (39) of Arthunkal were arrested for helping some of the assailants to go into hiding. Two RSS workers were also taken into custody from Thrissur for helping the assailants to go into hiding.
Police teams are scouring Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the assailants of BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan. ADGP Vijay Sakhare reiterated that the assailants got help from outside Kerala.
Minister for cultural affairs Saji Cherian visited the families of Shan and Ranjith on Friday. He spoke to Ranjith’s mother Vinodini, wife Lisha, brother Abhijith, Shan’s father Salim, wife Fansila, daughters Fiba Fathima and Liya Fathima and informed them that the investigation is going in the right direction.
Addressing the media later, he expressed his satisfaction over the ongoing probe and said all culprits will be arrested. “All the accused have been identified. The probe team has taken steps to arrest the remaining accused,” he said.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala slammed the government over the law and order situation in state. He said that a lapse on the part of the police allowed the killers to escape and move to other states.
Meanwhile, Alappuzha police is constantly monitoring social media platforms against provocative messages on Alappuzha murders. Two cases were registered in Alappuzha South and Mannancherry. All organizations and individuals who are indulging in sending messages to hurt communal harmony are under police surveillance. District police chief G Jaidev said action will be taken if provocative messages are circulated.
Meanwhile, a youth named Mohammed Feroz held a news conference in Kottayam alleging that he was tortured and abused in police custody. The Mannancherry native said though he was not a worker of SDPI, he was taken into custody in connection with Ranjith’s murder. He alleged that one of the cops asked him to say Jai Sriram while in police custody. He said that he was released on bail the next day.
