2 arrested in connection with Kerala killings

Two state-level leaders of the Social Democratic Party of India and the Bharatiya Janata Party were killed in an apparent retaliatory attack in Alappuzha.

Alappuzha: A day after Alappuzha was rocked by back-to-back killings of two party leaders, police on Monday said two people have been arrested in connection with the death of SDPI’s K S Shan and claimed “substantial lead” in the investigation into the murder of BJP’s OBC Morcha’s Ranjith Sreenivas.

ADGP (Law and Order) Vijay Sakhare, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the two separate cases, said preliminary investigation revealed that there were 10 accused in the killing of Shan on Saturday night.

While Prasad and Ratheesh were arrested in connection with the killing of the SDPI state secretary, eight other people involved in the crime have been identified and police teams have been deputed to nab them.

He said the arrested man-Prasad- was the main organiser of the murder of Shan. He allegedly organised men, vehicles and planned the killing of Shan, Sakhare said. Police are also probing if there was any larger conspiracy behind the killing of the SDPI leader, he said. Sakhare also spoke about the progress made in the investigation into the killing of BJP’s OBC Morcha’s state secretary Sreenivas, claiming “concrete clues” about the assailants.

He said the police have got a “substantial lead” about 12 people involved in the killing of Sreenivas. Their identities are being verified, the senior police official said.

Sakhare refused to provide more details but said the police are also probing if there was a larger conspiracy behind the killing and if it is established, the people who participated in it would also be brought before law.

Following the killing of the SDPI state secretary Shan late Saturday night, the BJP leader Sreenivas was hacked to death less than 12 hours later on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, state police chief Anil Kant on Monday directed his force to take precautionary measures in the wake of the recent incidents in Alappuzha.

The entire police force of the state will be deployed for this. Police officers will be allowed leave only in emergency situations, a statement issued by the office of the State Police Chief said.

Kant has also directed the police to tighten vehicle inspections day and night in the state and set up necessary police pickets in problematic areas.

Anti-social elements wanted in connection with various offences will be nabbed, police said.

Prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 were imposed in the entire Alappuzha district and additional police forces were deployed there and senior officers camped there to monitor the law and order situation.

SDPI state secretary KS Shan was buried in a khabaristan near his residence on Sunday evening after his body was kept for public viewing.

Cremation of the BJP OBC Morcha’s state secretary Ranjith Sreenivas, who was hacked to death at his home on Sunday morning, will be done today. His body has been handed over to the party leaders after post-mortem, police said.

An all-party meeting convened by the Alappuzha district Collector on Monday afternoon has been postponed to tomorrow after the BJP expressed inconvenience, official sources said. –(PTI)