The two days of tension that prevailed in a village on the outskirts of Tirunelveli, following the murder of a Democratic Youth Front of India (DYFI) functionary, subsided after the family accepted the body on Friday in the wake of arrest of six persons, including the prime suspect, in the murder.
The relatives, backed by Communist Party of India-Marxist functionaries, had refused to accept the body and were agitating ever since the murder on Wednesday night in which M. Ashok, 23, district treasurer of DYFI, was hacked to death by an armed gang when he was returning home from work. The police and revenue officials had a tough time pacifying them. When CPI(M) State secretary Balakrishnan visited the bereaved family on Thursday evening, the agitation gained momentum.
Along with the relatives, Mr. Balakrishnan took part in talks with Commissioner of Police N. Bhaskaran and Sub-Collector Manish Naranavare on Thursday night. They pressed for certain demands, including compensation of ₹50 lakh to the family of the murdered DYFI functionary and government job for a family member. The officials assured them that they would forward the demands to the government for consideration.
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Meanwhile, the police on Thursday night arrested the prime suspect, S. Petchirajan, 19, along with S. Muthupandi, 27, of North Karaiyiruppu, Murugan, 55, of Chidambara Nagar, his brothers Balu, 48, Mookkan, 45, and Ganesan, 43, in connection with the murder. Petchirajan’s father Subramanian and grandfather Ramachandran are absconding.
The arrests doused the tension and the victim’s family received the body around noon on Friday. After being taken in a procession, last rites were performed at Karaiyiruppu amid heavy police deployment.