THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police have so far arrested five people and are hot on the trail of eight more in connection with the brutal murder of a 21-year-old youth near Karamana. Balu aka Kiran Krishnan of Thamalam and Muhammed Roshan of Poojappura were arrested on Wednesday while the arrests of three others who were in custody - Arun Babu, Abhilash and Ram Karthick - were recorded on Thursday.
The three plotted the conspiracy to murder Ananthu, while Roshan and Balu were directly involved in the crime, including kidnapping. City Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Gurudin said the accused were all drug addicts and had criminal antecedents.
He said the probe was going on in the right direction and the rest of the accused will be apprehended soon. The police suspect the rest of the accused have fled the state. Ananthu was kidnapped by a three-member gang.
The plan to kidnap and murder the youth was hatched during the birthday celebration of one of the accused, Aneesh aka Kuttappan.