India News | All Accused of Local CPI Leader's Murder Arrested

Pathanamthitta/Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 3 (PTI): Kerala police on Friday said they have arrested all the five accused, including an RSS worker, in the murder case of a CPI(M) local secretary at Peringara near Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta District.

Earlier in the day, the police said they arrested the prime accused Jishnu (23), the RSS worker, Pramod (23), Nandu (24) and Mohammed Faisal (22). The absconding accused Abhi was held from Edathua in Alappuzha, police said.

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The CPI(M) leader P B Sandeep Kumar, who was also a former panchayat member, was stabbed to death here on Thursday night.

Meanwhile, the statement of district police chief R Nishanthini that the murder was not a political one has received the ire of ruling CPI(M), which questioned the claim.

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The party's State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asked how an officer could come to such a conclusion even before the investigation has begun. "When CPI(M) workers are killed, there is tendency to claim that it was not a political murder. Even before the investigation was over, the police officer seems like to have made a statement that the murder was not due to political vendetta. The government needs to look into such statements," Balakrishnan told reporters.

The BJP on Friday said that Jishnu was earlier ousted from the party and distanced itself from the incident. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who met the reporters on the outskirts of Kochi, said the incident was unfortunate. "...there are conflicts and differences of opinion but these are to be resolved in an amicable, civilised and democratic manner. It's very unfortunate. I am sure the State police will bring the culprits to book as soon as possible," the Governor said. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoled the death of the young party worker and said all the culprits will be brought to justice and the reason behind the brutal act uncovered. "A popular leader in that locality was killed. Sandeep was a comrade who was earlier an elected representative and was close to the people in the area. Directions have been issued to the police to apprehend all the accused and reveal the motive behind the murder," Vijayan said. The body of Kumar was received by the relatives and party workers after postmortem and was taken to the party office as a procession in which hundreds of party workers and senior leaders took part. LDF convenor A Vijayaraghavan visited the house of Kumar and paid his respects. The dawn-to-dusk hartal in Thiruvalla municipality and adjacent panchayats called for by the CPI(M) in protest against the murder was peaceful. Reacting to the incident, the CPI(M) State secretariat had issued a statement blaming the RSS and demanded a thorough investigation into the matter. According to the police, the incident occurred at around 8.30 PM on Thursday. Police had said there were 11 stab wounds on the body of the victim who died before reaching a hospital. After the victim tried to settle a dispute between the accused -- who were allegedly drunk -- and a shop owner, his bike was chased and he was stabbed multiple times, police said. Kumar is survived by his wife and two minor children.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)