Palakkad: The Kerala Police has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the murder of S K Sreenivasan, a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker, at Melamuri in Palakkad district on Saturday. The SIT will be led by Deputy Superintendent of Police (narcotics cell) Anil Kumar.
Sreenivasan's murder was in retaliation for the killing of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) activist Subair, the police stated.
Subair was hacked to death allegedly by RSS workers at Elappully in the district on Friday.
Police zeroing in on killers
ADGP Vijay Sakhare on Sunday said that the police have identified the culprits in the case and assured that all the suspects will be held soon.
"The police have taken some people into custody. Others are under our observation. They will be nabbed soon," the top cop said.
He was talking to the media after an evaluation of the prevailing law and order situation in Palakkad district at a high-level meeting.
According to reports, the police have identified the bikes used by the assailants to murder Sreenivasan at his shop in Melamuri on Saturday noon. One of the bikes belongs to a woman.
The police have also gathered specific information about the people directly involved in the crime. They suspect that the assailants are from Palakkad city and nearby Pirayiri panchayat. The police, earlier, had said that the attacked was carried out by six people, who came on three bikes.
Prohibitory order in place
In view of the volatile situation in the region, the police have rounded up 50 SDPI and RSS workers from various areas in Palakkad district and kept them in preventive custody. Also, prohibitory order has been imposed in Palakkad district until April 20.
The police have also warned that stern action will be taken against those who try to incite communal tension through social media in the backdrop of Palakkad murders. The state police chief has given instruction to monitor social media activity in the state to control the spread of any fake news that may incite communal tensions.
All-party meeting on Monday
The Kerala Government has called an all-party meeting on Monday. Minister for Electricity K Krishnankutty, who is also the MLA from the Chittur assembly constituency in Palakkad, will preside over the meeting.
The BJP will send its state general secretary C Krishnakumar and district president K M Haridas to the meeting scheduled on Monday.
Krishnakumar on Sunday said the BJP will expose the failures of the police at the meet.
Alleging lapses on the part of the police in maintaining the law and order in the district, BJP state president Surendran accused the police of aiding the culprits to escape.
The BJP state leadership would appraise the central government of the prevailing situation in the state, he said.
Sreenivasan, 45, a former district leader and office-bearer of RSS, was attacked by a six-member gang at his motorbike shop at Melamuri on Saturday. The incident occurred less than 24 hours after SDPI leader Subair was killed at Elappully, allegedly by the RSS.
Sreenivasan's final rites were held at his hometown on Sunday. The cremation was held at a community crematorium at Karukodi. Hundreds of RSS/BJP workers paid their final respects to the deceased when the body was kept at Karnakiyamman Higher Secondary School.
The back-to-back killings involving BJP-RSS and SDPI is the second such incident in the past few months in Kerala. Earlier, in December last year in Alappuzha, a leader of SDPI and a leader of BJP were murdered within 24 hours.
