Kerala Police have arrested five people including a former leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in connection with the murder of a CPI(M) leader, P B Sandeep Kumar, who was stabbed to death in Peringara, in the district of Pathanamthitta on Thursday night.
However the BJP has disavowed all ties with the culprit and has maintained that he was ousted from the RSS much earlier.
The accused has been identified as Jishnu Chathankari, 23 who has been arrested along with Pramod (23), Nandu (24) and Mohammed Faisal (22). Another accused, Abhi, is on the run, police added. The filed FIR states that personal animosity may have been the reason behind the murder.
Peringara local committee secretary Sandeep was attacked by a gang on bikes who inflicted multiple stab wounds on his person, before dragging him off to a nearby field where he was found dead. The assailants fled as people were alerted to the ruckus.
The first three accused were apprehended from Karuvatta in Alappuzha district whereas Faisal was held from a lodge at Thiruvalla. The hideouts of the accused were triangulated based on information gathered and with the location of the cell phone tower, police said.
"Sandeep's murder was a planned one and RSS, BJP is behind it. A high-level probe is required to reveal the conspiracy...Pathanamthitta district committee will organize protest against Sandeep's murder. On 7 December 2021 CPI(M) will organize a protest for the protection of minorities across the state," said CPI(M) State Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
Balakrishnan further added that the attack against Muslims and Christians are increasing in the country.
"In the last 9 months, more than 300 Christian churches were attacked. Farmers were attacked in Assam. Muslims are attacked in Uttar Pradesh," he alleged.