THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police probe on the attack on BJP district general secretary and corporation councillor Saji Pappanancode alias Sanil Kumar is nearing completion even as police sources maintained the attack was triggered by personal enmity rather than any political or communal fallout.
The 38-year-old was attacked at Thekkekotta by bike-borne assailants, who had masked their faces with handkerchiefs, while he was returning from a relative’s house in Vallakadavu.
A police source said some BJP workers had manhandled a person, running an eatery near Nemom, for allegedly helping a staff elope with his lover, a woman from another caste. The eatery owner’s wife also sustained injuries in the attack that occurred at Thampanoor railway station in the first week of April when the family had arrived to board the Rajya Rani Express.
Saji was said to be one of the persons who had vociferously opposed the affair. This caused the accused to harbour a grudge against Saji, culminating in the attack. However, it has been reliably learnt all the members of the gang has been taken into custody and the arrest will be recorded soon. The police source dismissed rumours that some of the accused were nabbed from other states for questioning. “They were all taken from within the city limits,” an officer said.