A Crime Branch team arrested one more person in connection with the murder of P. Faizal, 32, at Kodinhi in November last year.
Jayakumar Kottasseri, 48, from Athanikkal, Vallikkunnu, was arrested from a hideout in Palakkad on Tuesday. Tirurangadi taluk secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Jayakumar is the eighth accused in the case.
The body of Faizal was found by the roadside at Farook Nagar, Kodinhi, near Tiruranagadi, on November 19 early morning. The police said he was waylaid and stabbed to death by a professional hit gang around 5 a.m. His innards had been pulled out and his head slit open in the rear.
Eleven men with BJP-RSS links had been arrested earlier. Three more accused, including Jayakumar, had gone underground. The people of Kodinhi resorted to an agitation early this month blaming the police for helping the key accused in the murder.
The investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch following people’s pressure. The police said Jayakumar was the one who conspired to execute the murder of Faizal, who had embraced Islam a few months ago. He was hiding at Narikkuni and Parali. The investigation officers picked him up from Palakkad following a tip off about his hideout.
Jayakumar was brought to the Crime Branch office here on Tuesday evening. He was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate at Parppanangadi and was remanded in judicial custody.
