Kasaragod: In a new development in the killings of two youth Congress workers in Kerala, a local CPI(M) leader A Peethambaran was arrested yesterday on charges of instigating the murders. He would be produced before court today.
The arrest comes a day after the Governor P Sathasivam sought an urgent report from the state government on the status of the police probe.
On Sunday night, the deceased, Kripesh and Sharat Lal were returning home after taking part in a function when they were blocked by a gang who hacked them to death. Relatives of deceased have alleged that the CPI(M) was behind the killings and that the two had previously received threats.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala blamed the CI(M) for the double murder. He said, “The CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress party using the party goons. The youth congress activists were attacked without any provocation. They were not involved in any kind of criminal activities. No cases were there against them. The government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible.”
Expressing solidarity with the families of the deceased, Chennithala yesterday cancelled his son Rohit’s wedding reception which was scheduled to be held at Thiruvananthapuram and Haripad on 21 and 23 February, respectively.
With many Congress leaders continuously attacking the CPI(M), the party’s State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan stated the killings cannot be justified and if any local CPI(M) activists had a role in it, action would be taken against them. He further said that the party would not protect them.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described the incident as extremely unfortunate, and said strong action would be taken against the accused. Issuing a statement in this regard, the CMO said the State DGP has been instructed to bring all the accused to book as early as possible.
Interrogation of six others, who were taken into custody, was going on said media reports.