Three persons suspected to have close links with two suspected Islamic extremists who gunned down special sub-inspector Wilson in Kanniyakumari two days ago were on Friday detained in Kerala for interrogation. Separately, five police special teams continued their hunt for the assailants.
While Syed Ibrahim and Abdullah were picked up in Palakkad, Rafiq of Poothurai near Thiruvananthapuram is being grilled for clues regarding the whereabouts of the assailants.
SSI murder: radical link being probed
The police were questioning 20 persons in various places of Kerala in connection with the case.
In Kanniyakumari district, five persons, all friends of the suspects A. Abdul Shameem of Thiruvithaancode and M. Thoufique of Malik Dinar Nagar in Kottar, were questioned.
Additional Director-General of Police Jayanth Murali, who camped in Kanniyakumari, is coordinating the investigation in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
The information received by the Kerala police from the associates of the prime suspects is shared with their Tamil Nadu counterparts to decide on the next course of action.
Inputs received
Moreover, the information obtained during the questioning of Khaja Maideen, Syed Mohammed Nawaz and Abdul Samad, who were detained recently in New Delhi, is being taken into consideration in the investigation pertaining to the killing of Wilson.
“The religious extremists and their friends and relatives have been under pressure for quite some time from the Tamil Nadu police, who are tracking and arresting some of them when their sinister designs get exposed. Agitated over this and to demoralise the police force, they gunned down the SSI, whose body bore three bullets and a few stab wounds. After firing at Wilson, they had dragged him out of the check-post enclosure and stabbed him as he resisted,” said a senior police officer in Kanniyakumari.
