The police on Saturday arrested four persons in connection with the murder of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) worker A. Subair at Elappully here on Friday. They are Jineesh, Sudarshanan, Sreejit, and Shaiju.
The police said they were Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers. Two of them, Sudarshanan and Sreejit, were accused in a murder attempt on SDPI worker Sakeer Hussain over a year ago at Erattakkulam near here. They had gone into hiding in Tamil Nadu after securing bail a few weeks ago.
The police, however, did not disclose where they were picked up from. A special police team i reportedly zeroed in on the RSS workers on the basis of statements by several witnesses, including Subair’s father Aboobacker.
Mr. Aboobacker had suffered injuries when the assailants in a car dashed Subair’s bike, tossing the father and the son on to the ground. He reportedly told the police that he watched in shock as the attackers hacked Subair repeatedly with long blades and knives. Two of the assailants looked at Mr. Aboobacker, but spared him.
The police recovered a car used by the assailants from Kanjikode. The Maruti Alto car bearing the registration number KL9 AQ 7901 was found to be owned by one Kripesh. A BJP worker, Ramesh, reportedly hired the car from one Aliyar. The police said they were searching for Ramesh.
Another car used by the assailants was abandoned at the crime scene. The car owned by A. Sanjit, the RSS worker who was hacked to death in a similar fashion on November 15, 2021, by a group of SDPI men, had developed a flat tyre as it rammed the bike. Sanjit’s widow reportedly told the police that Sanjit had left the car in a workshop weeks before he was killed.
It took more than four hours for the forensic surgeon to complete Subair’s postmortem examination at the District Hospital here as he had 50-odd hack wounds on the neck and body. According to doctors, Subair died of blood loss.
The body was taken to Elappully in a convoy in the afternoon. A large number of police personnel were deployed all along the way to Elappully. Subair’s funeral obsequies and the burial at Para Elappully Juma Masjid witnessed emotional scenes as hundreds of SDPI men, including its State leaders, paid their last respects to him.
