PALAKKAD: As the CPM and BJP claim their members were not behind the murder of Shajahan, Kunnamkad East branch secretary of the Left party, the police are yet to officially reveal the political identity of the accused. At the same time, CPM leaders seem to be upset with the police for not toeing their line.
CPM district secretary E N Suresh Babu criticised the police for stating that it was personal enmity which had led to the killing of Shajahan. “The police themselves have said that the accused had tried to put up a board of Sreekrishna Jayanti celebrations and they had participated in the Raksha Bandhan ceremony. Does it not show that the accused were RSS persons?” Suresh Babu asked.
He said the accused had RSS links and it was through proper planning that the CPM branch secretary was killed. Why are the police hesitating to say that the RSS was behind the killing, he asked. Reacting to the statement of second accused Aneesh that he and the other arrested persons were all CPM workers, former party MP N N Krishnadas said the RSS had taught the accused what all they had to say to the media after the killing.
Killed Shajahan over personal rivalry, says accused
Aneesh, the second accused in the murder of CPM Kunnamkad East branch secretary and Marutharoad local committee member Shajahan, has said that they were CPM workers and it was due to personal rivalry that they killed Shajahan. While being taken out of the court to the Alathur jail, Aneesh told reporters that they were all CPM workers.
On Thursday, the police recorded the arrest of four persons involved in the murder. They are fifth accused Vishnu, 22, son of Sahadevan of Kottekad, Suneesh, 23, son of Suresh of Kunnamkad, Kottekad, seventh accused Sivarajan, 33, son of Narayanan of Kunnamkad, Kottekad and Satheesh, 31, son of Krishnankutty, of Kunnakad in Kottekad.
Four others who gave weapons are also in police custody. Police have not revealed the political identity of the arrested persons. The four persons whose arrests were recorded on Wednesday are Naveen, 38, son of Srinath, Nayana house, Kaalipara, Kottekad, second accused Aneesh, 29, son of Chandran of Kottekad, Malampuzha, third accused Sabareesh, 28, son of Krishnan of Kunnamkad, Kottekad, Malampuzha, and fourth accused Sujeesh, 28, son of Suresh of Kunnunkad, Kottekad. While Naveen was arrested from Pollachi, the remaining persons were arrested from Kozhimala near Kava in Malampuzha. They were produced in court on Thursday and remanded to Alathur jail.
Three swords used by the accused to murder Shajahan were recovered from an uninhabited area on the banks of the Korayar river. The rakhis were also recovered. It was an altercation over putting up flex boards of Sree Krishna Jayanti and Ganeshotsavam and the presence of rakhis on the hands of one of the accused which was objected to by the deceased Shajahan on the morning of August 14 which finally led to the killing at 9.45 pm.