Palakkad: Two persons taken into custody by the police as part of the probe into the murder of CPM local leader Shahjahan in Palakkad have been reported missing. Relatives of Awaz and Jayaraj, who were in police custody, approached the District Court in Palakkad saying that the two could not be traced. Subsequently, the court appointed an advocate commission to investigate the complaint.

The commission conducted an inspection at the Palakkad South Police Station on Saturday and will visit other police stations also in the coming days.

Awaz and Jayaraj were taken into custody by the police on August 16 as part of their probe into the murder of Shahjahan (40) - who was the CPM’s branch secretary for Kunnankad in Palakkad district - two days earlier. On the night of August 14, Shahjahan was with a friend at Kunnankad Junction when a group of people hacked him fatally with machetes.

The police have so far arrested eight persons in connection with the murder. They are, Vishnu (22), S Sunish (23) and N Sivarajan – all belonging to Kunnankad; K Satheesh alias Sajeesh (31); the main conspirator Naveen, a native of Kalippara in Kottekkad; and Sabareesh (30), Anish (29) and Sujish (27), who were among those who hacked Shahjahan and also hail from Kunnankad.