The Kerala Police on Tuesday arrested six men suspected to be linked to the murder of K. Ramulu, Maoist-turned realtor and Telangana Rashtra Samithi leader, in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh last Sunday.
Officials said they seized a .32 calibre automatic pistol of unknown make from the suspects, all residents of Andhra Pradesh. It had two live rounds in its chamber. Secret information received by Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajitha Begum Sultan led to the detention of the suspects from an inexpensive lodge near the crowded Central Railway station locality at Thampanoor in Thiruvananthapuram at 2 p.m. The police tentatively identified them as Ravi, 32, Ellesh, 38, Somayyah, 35, Chilakaraj Suresh, 45, Ramesh Meghala, 38, and Kumara Sreeday, 28.
Somayyah, an active Maoist and wanted man, had exploited a government offer for amnesty and surrendered before police in Hyderabad in 2002.
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State police officials, quoting their counterparts in Andhra Pradesh, said Suresh seemed to be the only other person in the group with a Maoist background. Both were apparently proficient in the use of small arms. A senior official said Ramulu was shot dead on his way to a marriage in Nalgonda.