The police team probing the murder of Abhimanyu at the Ernakulam Maharaja’s College has identified the owners of eight vehicles, including a car, allegedly used by the 15-member squad of assailants to reach the crime scene.
According to officials, four of the eight two-wheelers recovered from the site were registered at the Tripunithura Sub Regional Transport Office, while three were from Mattancherry. The remaining one vehicle is owned by a native of Kothamangalam and the car belonged to a native of Cherthala in Alappuzha.
‘‘A search is on to nab the vehicle owners, most of whom have gone into hiding,’’ said an officer privy to the investigation.
Meanwhile, Anas, an area secretary of the Popular Front of India (PFI), was produced before a magistrate and remanded to judicial custody. The police will soon seek his custody for a detailed interrogation.
Anas, a native of Mattancherry, is accused of harbouring the assailants who attacked the SFI activists and involving in the conspiracy to murder Abhimanyu.
Meanwhile, the department is verifying reports about an accused escaping to the Middle East through the Bengaluru international airport on the next day of the murder. The police had earlier sent alerts to all airports to prevent them from leaving the country.
The police, which so far arrested seven persons in connection with the case, are currently on the look out for six youths from Nettoor, who have gone into hiding.
According to officials, some of these youths had been earlier arraigned as accused in the Muvattupuzha palm-chopping case but acquitted later. They had since been under constant surveillance of the law enforcement agencies and were not directly accused in any criminal cases.
Considering the possibility of them leaving the State soon after the crime, search teams have been deployed in the neighbouring States as well. Meanwhile, sources hinted at the arrest of one more person in connection with the case within the next couple of days.
