All 5 accused in the murder of SDPI leader Shan at Alappuzha in custody: Reports

Alappuzha: All five accused in the murder of SDPI (Social Democratic Party of India) state secretary, K S Shan, have been taken into custody, indicate the latest reports.

All the five were directly involved in killing the SDPI leader K S Shan, ADGP (Law and Order) Vijay Sakhare told PTI.

The police said the men in custody are RSS workers.

V Sakhare is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing into the recent back-to-back murders of SDPI's Shan and BJP's OBC Morcha leader Ranjith Sreenivas.

The police have so far nabbed 12 persons in connection with the murder that took place on the night of December 18 at Mannancherry here.

While five of them are understood to have committed the murder, the others were part of the conspiracy, a Manorama News report said.

Two accused arrested on the day are Mannancherry-native Athul and Dhanesh of Aryad. The duo was captured by the Ambalappuzha Police from the house of a relative of Athul at Kuttamangalam near Kainakary in Kuttanad.

Earlier, RSS activists Rajendran and Rathish and two other suspects, Anil and Shaji were nabbed in connection with the murder. An ambulance driver, Akhil, hailing from Cherthala, was also taken into custody the other day.

Minister visits Ranjeet's family
State minister Saji Cherian visited the family of OBC Morcha leader Ranjeet Srinivas, who was murdered allegedly in retaliation within hours of the killing of Shan.

The police are yet to arrest anyone directly involved in the killing of Ranjeet. It is understood that 12 persons had arrived on six bikes to kill the BJP leader.

Earlier in the day, Sakhare said as all those directly involved in the crime had managed to escape to another State, Kerala police has sought assistance from their counterparts in the neighbouring States to nab them.

Not only those took part in the larger conspiracy of the murders but also those who provided the killers any kind of help would be booked for conspiracy, he said.

"We cannot divulge the details like in which States they are hiding. Wherever they go, we will chase and catch them. Cyber investigation has also been intensified in this regard," Sakhare told reporters in Alappuzha.

Shan, the State secretary of SDPI, was killed by a gang on Saturday night while he was on his way home in Alappuzha, while the BJP OBC Morcha state secretary Sreenivas was hacked to death in front of his family by some assailants in his house on Sunday morning in the same district.