Four more arrested in CPI(M) leader killing in Palakkad

Four more people allegedly involved in the killing of a local CPI(M) leader on the eve of Independence Day in the district were arrested on Wednesday.

A top police officer told PTI that of the four, three were directly involved in the incident and one was a conspirator and they will be produced during the day before a court as per the procedure.

Another senior officer, earlier in the day, told reporters here that the killing was the outcome of a personal enmity.

He said that there were some issues between Shajahan, who was killed on Sunday night, and some of the persons allegedly involved in the attack over their recent change in political affiliation.

The attackers, who were earlier workers of CPI(M), had stopped taking part in party activities and had recently participated in a ‘rakshabandhan’ event of RSS which had heightened tensions between them and the victim, they said.

It all culminated in the attack on Shajahan, a CPI(M) local committee member, on August 14 night near his home while he was carrying out preparations for Independence day celebrations on the next day.

Both the CPI(M) and BJP have been trying to pin the killing on each other while the Congress, in an apparent support to the latter, said that everything cannot be pinned upon the saffron party merely because they are the political rivals.

The Congress also called for an independent probe into the killing and alleged that there was an increase in the number of murders in the state which indicated a failure of the Home Department.

The victim’s family, meanwhile, had told the media that Shajahan was threatened with dire consequences by the accused who were not happy that he won a seat in the local committee.