Thiruvananthapuram: Five more gang members were arrested by the police on Tuesday in connection with the gruesome killing of their rival in Pothencode.
Sudheesh, 32, bled to death after the gang severed his legs and threw the limb on the road on December 11.
The latest to be arrested in the case are: Arun alias Dummy, 23, Kalluvettankuzhi house at Kudavoor in Kattiyad; Sachin, 24, of Puthen Veettil house at Kulakode in Chemboor; Sooraj, 23 of Vishnu Bhavan at Korani YMA junction area; Jishnu alias Unny of Kuzhithoppil house in Thonnakkal; and Sreenath alias Nandu, 21, of Mulamkunnil Laksham Veettil of Thaikkad.
But the police are yet to catch first accused Sudhish Unny, second accused Ottakam Rajesh and third accused Muttayi Shyam Kumar in the case.
According to the Southern Range DIG Sanjay Kumar Gurudin, eight gangsters have already been arrested in connection with the case. Three accused Ranjith, Nandish and Nitish were arrested by the police earlier.
Sudheesh was hacked to death in front of his wife and other family members. The gang created a scare by throwing bomb first, then chopped off one of his legs and left with it. Later, the accused went for a celebration rally on a bike by carrying the limb openly. Later, the limb was found abandoned on a roadside nearby. According to police, the murder was an offshoot of gang rivalry.
Evidence collection
Meanwhile, the police took the accused for evidence collection to the banks of the Mulayam river, where they had hidden the arms used for the crime.
The police also recovered the arms hidden in the autorickshaw of Ranjith, who was earlier arrested in connection with the case.
According to the police, the deceased Sudheesh was also a gangster. He was involved in many criminal cases. He was the third accused in the case in which a gang caused serious injuries to two youths after hacking them at Mangattumoola under Attingal police station limits and throwing crackers at a housewife.
According to police, Sudheeh and his brother had also involvement in the murder of the brother of Ottakam Rajesh. This resulted in the revenge killing of Sudheesh. The police have now intensified its operations to nab three prime accused, inlcuding Ottakam Rajesh, in the Sudheeh murder case.
