KOCHI : Nine persons were taken into custody by the police on Thursday in the case pertaining to the firecracker explosion at Choorakkad near Puthiyakavu in Tripunithura in which two persons died and several were injured.
Of these, five persons are associated with Thekkumpuram Karayogam and four persons had allegedly provided hideouts for the accused. All were picked up from Munnar by the Hill Palace police and brought to Tripunithura. Their interrogation is under way and the arrest will be recorded soon.
As per the FIR lodged by the Hill Palace police, soon after the blasts, Sajeesh Kumar, the devaswom president, Rajesh, devaswom secretary, Sathyan, devaswom treasurer, and Adarsh of Thiruvananthapuram, the contractor for the fireworks, and several identifiable persons were arraigned as accused.
While the devaswom office-bearers are absconding, Adarsh, who is admitted to the ICU of Kalamassery Medical College following serious burns, has not come out of danger.
Vinod, 42, of Piravom, Vineeth, 27, of Vembayam, and Satheeshan and Sasikumar of Tripunithura, who were arrested earlier, are under judicial custody now.
They were booked under IPC sections 304, 308, 34, 427, and 337. Besides, they were also booked under relevant Sections of the Explosives Substances Act.