Thiruvananthapuram: The police have arrested two more key accused for the murder of two DYFI activists at Thempammoodu in Thiruvananthapuram's Venjaramoodu.
Biju alias Unni from Madapuram and his friend Ansar from Pullampara were taken into custody on Thursday night and they are being questioned. The police are mainly trying to find out if the murders were committed with anyone else’s help or under someone’s directions.
Unni's arrest will be recorded on Friday. Ansar's arrest will be recorded only after further questioning.
With the arrest of all the nine accused in the case, it will become clear if there was a high-level conspiracy behind the murders, the police said.
The application for the custody of those arrested earlier will be moved on Friday. Only after getting their custody will the police be able to ascertain if more people were involved in the crime. They will also be able to start gathering evidence only after getting the custody of the accused.
The police are examining phone call details to find out who had helped the two arrested on Thursday to go into hiding.
The police have found clothes that they believe belong to the accused and also some of the weapons used by them in the attack on the two DYFI activists. Two shirts were found from a rubber plantation at Mottakavu, Anad, in Nedumangad.
The police are also investigating the involvement of some local Congress activists in the murders.
Meanwhile, the CPM district secretary's explanation that the slain DYFI activists may have been carrying weapons for self-defence is likely to give the case a political angle.
The CPM's suggestion that both sides could have used weapons comes when the Congress has been trying to distance itself from the crime by saying it was a result of rivalry between two groups.
Mithilaj (30), of Safiul Nizam Manzil, Thevalakkad, who was the joint secretary of DYFI’s unit in Vembayam, Thevalakkad, and Haque Mohammad (24), of Bismi Manzil in Kalunkinmukham, who was the unit secretary of the outfit's Perumala unit, were killed on August 30 around midnight. They were attacked by a group of armed men.
While Mithilaj died on the spot, Haque Mohammad died on the way to hospital after the attack. A third person, Shahin, escaped with injuries and he informed the police about the assault.
The police said initial investigations revealed that Congress activists were behind the murders. They said the attack was in continuation of a dispute between Congress and DYFI activists in the area that had its genesis during the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The Congress has said it does not have any involvement in the case. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran said the party does not trust the investigation by police officials “obedient” to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan of the CPM. He has demanded that the investigation in the case should be handed over to the CBI.