Twin murders: Manhunt for killers

New Mahe in Kerala’s Kannur district and Pallur in adjoining Mahe enclave of Puducherry, which had witnessed two brutal political killings on Monday night and widespread violence on Tuesday, limped back to normal on Wednesday even as cases were registered against more than 500 persons over the violent incidents that occurred in the two places on Tuesday.

The Puducherry and Kerala police forces intensified their hunt for the killers of local CPI(M) leader Kannipoyil Babu (45), who was hacked to death near his house in Pallur, Mahe late Monday night, and BJP-RSS activist Shamej Parambath (36), who was hacked to death about 45 minutes later when he was returning home in his autorikshaw at adjacent New Mahe, Kannur.

The police had not been able to arrest anybody responsible for either of the incidents till late Wednesday evening though they had been successful in collecting crucial information about those accused in both the cases. They suspected that the killers could have slipped off into other districts or even other states.

According to the police, Babu was attacked by professional killers from outside the region and local RSS workers had provided help to them. Babu was attacked by a gang of eight men and the police have already identified four of them and named them as accused in the FIR. Six persons, reportedly CPI(M) workers, have been named as accused in the case of the murder of Shamej.

The police have identified all the members of the gang that had attacked Shamej, an autorikshaw driver, with the help of two eyewitnesses. They have also collected all the available CCTV footages from the area where he was attacked. Sources in the police said several people were already questioned in connection with the two killings but nobody had been taken into custody.

The murder of Babu is being probed by the Puducherry Police as the incident had taken place in Mahe and a special investigation team, headed by Senior Superintendent of Police Apoorva Gupta, has been formed for the purpose. Shamej’s killing is being investigated by the Kerala Police as it had occurred in Kannur district.

Amidst concerns about possibility of political interferences due to the involvement of two different police forces in the probe into related incidents of political murder, the police chiefs of Kerala and Puducherry, respectively Loknath Behera and Sunil Kumar Gautam, held discussions at the Government Guest House at Thalassery, Kannur on Wednesday afternoon.

“We discussed about how a joint investigation can lead to quick apprehension of the culprits. We are assisting each other in all respects,” said Behera said after the meeting with his Puducherry counterpart. Towards the end of the meeting, a CPI(M) MLA and a party lawyer came up with a complaint against the Puducherry Police.

“We are in touch with the Kerala Police and the Kerala DGP. We are getting good cooperation from them in the probe,” Gautam told newsmen at Pallur earlier. He said the killers of local the CPI(M) leader would be caught soon, adding that the anti-social activities and political conflicts in Mahe would be brought to an end.