The police team investigating the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker Santhosh at Dharmadam, near Thalassery, on January 18 arrested six Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] workers on Saturday.
The arrested have been identified as Midhun (27), Prajul P. (25), Shamil M.K. (26), Rijesh K. (27), Ajesh P. (25), Rohin (27).
Sources close to the investigation team said the accused, all natives of Dharmadam, had been taken into custody for questioning within two hours after the execution of the murder late night on Wednesday.
2 more under surveillance
The police said they were all directly involved in the murder. The police said two more suspects were under surveillance.
The arrest has put the CPI(M) leadership on the back foot. The CPI(M) district secretariat in a statement indicated that a family dispute was the possible motive behind the murder.
It said the murder could have been carried out by Rashtriya Swayasevak Sangh (RSS) workers in the area, and said a police sniffer dog had gone to the house of a local RSS worker.
The police said the murder of Santhosh near his house where he had been staying alone was a sequel to an attack on a CPI(M) worker the previous day.
The Dharmadom police had registered a case under Indian Penal Code Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).
Help of dossiers
Investigating officers said the six accused had been taken into custody within hours with the help of dossiers of anti-social elements.
The police team could immediately identify the suspects using the dossiers of such elements. All the six arrested had been under surveillance since the police started preparing the dossiers a few months back.
The murder of the BJP worker and subsequent escalation of tension at a time when the State School Arts Festival was under way had drawn condemnation from Opposition parties. The CPI(M) leadership had denied any involvement in the murder.
