Ten goons, including Shan murder case accused, held in Kayamkulam

They were attending the birthday party of goon Nidheesh Kumar; some escape on seeing the police

The police arrested a 10-member goonda gang from Kareelakulangara, near Kayamkulam, on Wednesday. The group was nabbed after a police team raided the house of goon Nidheesh Kumar where his birthday party was being held.

Among the arrested was Athul (29) of Mannancherry, an accused in the murder of Social Democratic Party of India leader K.S. Shan. Athul is currently out on bail in the murder case. Besides Athul and Nidheesh (36) of Eruva, near Kayamkulam, others arrested by the police have been identified as Vijeesh (30) of Pathiyoor, Anandu (20) of Krishnapuram, Alan Benny (27) of Idukki, Prashal (29) of Thrissur, Habees (32) of Pathiyoor, Vishnu (33) of Pathiyoor, Saifudeen (38) of Cheravally, and Rajesh Kumar (45) of Haripad.

Meanwhile, Matta Kannan, a murder case accused, along with Thakkali Ashiq, Vidobha Faisal, Danger Arun, Motti alias Amal Farooq Sait, and Vijay Karthikeyan, all involved in various criminal activities, managed to escape on seeing the police. Authorities confiscated the vehicles used by the gang members.

Detailed probe

District Police Chief Chaitra Teresa John said that a detailed probe had been launched to ascertain whether there were any other motives for the gathering.

The arrests came only two weeks after the Mavelikara Additional District Sessions Court-I awarded death penalty to 14 of the 15 convicts — all belonging to the now-proscribed Popular Front of India (PFI) and its political arm, the SDPI — in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ranjith Sreenivas at his house at Vellakinar in Alappuzha municipality on December 19, 2021. His was a retaliatory killing to avenge the murder of the SDPI’s State secretary Shan at Kuppezham Junction at Mannancherry, Alappuzha, allegedly by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activists.

The Alappuzha Additional District and Sessions Court-III will pronounce the verdict in a plea made by the defence to declare invalid the chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) in the Shan murder case on February 26. The accused in the case argued that the murder case was registered by the Mannancherry police, under whose jurisdiction the crime happened, and as such the chargesheet should have been submitted by the Mannancherry Circle Inspector instead of the Dy.SP who probed the case. The court will also conduct a hearing on the same day in a petition filed by the prosecution to quash the bail granted to 10 accused in the Shan murder.

The gang was nabbed by a police team led by Kareelakulangara and Kayamkulam Circle Inspectors, Suneesh and Girilal, under the guidance of Kayamkulam Dy.SP G. Ajaynath.