Three persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of a Madrassa teacher in Kasargode, which had caused tension in the Kerala town.

A Special Investigation Team arrested Ajesh alias Appu (20), Akhilesh alias Akhilu (25) and Nithin alias Pippriyan (19) from Kasargode on Thursday night. All the three accused are natives of Kasargode. A member of the investigating team told TNM that past enmity might have prompted the accused to conduct the crime, but a thorough investigation is still on. The accused are reportedly active workers of the Bharatiya Janatha Party.

Kannur Crime Branch SP Dr A Sreenivas who was heading the team told reporters that, if there was any conspiracy behind the crime, it could be unearthed only after interrogating the accused. The accused were produced before the court on Friday and sent to jail.

Riyas Maulavi (30), a Muslim cleric and a teacher in a madrassa, was killed on March 20 at Choori in the Madhur Grama Panchayat. Riyas was hacked to death in the middle of the night by unknown assailants who slashed his throat repeatedly. A native of Kodagu in the neighbouring state of Karnataka, Riyas was living in Choori for past six years.

The murder came to light when another cleric, living in the room adjacent to Riyas’s, heard a disturbance. By the time he rushed to Riyas’s room, the culprits had fled. The cleric then informed the locals of the murder through the mosque loudspeaker.