Hours after a CPI(M) leader was hacked to death late on Thursday, the police on Saturday arrested five persons in connection with the case.
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The arrested were identified as Jishnu Raghu of Chathankari, Pramod Prasannan of Payipad, and Nandu Kumar C. of Azhiyidathuchira, who were caught from a hideout near Karuvatta, Alappuzha.
Muhammad Faizal, a native of Kannur, was taken into custody from Kuttapuzha, while Vishnu Kumar, a native of Vengal near here, was caught from a hideout near Edathua.
The accused were subjected to interrogation at the Pulikeezhu police station and will be produced before a magistrate later in the day.
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The accused had allegedly hacked and stabbed to death P.B. Sandeep Kumar, secretary of the Peringara local committee branch of the CPI(M), late on Thursday. According to police, they chased the victim on two motorcycles and unleashed a violent attack on him using sharp-edged weapons.
The attack took place near the SNDP High School in Chathenkari around 8 p.m. when Mr. Sandeep Kumar was returning home.
Preliminary postmortem report from the Thiruvalla Taluk General Hospital showed he had sustained about 20 injuries on his body. Of this, a deep injury on his chest caused the death.
Though the CPI(M) leadership had described the murder as a politically motivated act by the RSS, the police sought to attribute the killing to rivalry between the victim and Jishnu, the key accused.
In protest to the murder, the CPI(M) observed a hartal in Thiruvalla on Friday. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed the police to bring all persons involved in the crime before the law.