The Kerala police on Thursday arrested another key accused in the murder of Abhimanyu, a 19-year-old Student Federation of India (SFI) leader. Mohammad Rifa, a law student in Kochi and state secretary of Campus Front of India (CFI) was arrested in Bengaluru, reported New Indian Express. CFI is the student wing of the PFI, while SFI is the student wing of CPI (M).
According to a report by Asianet news, police claim that he is the mastermind behind the murder. TNIE reported that it was Rifa, who allegedly called the gang to reach Maharajas College. While 14 people have been detained in connection with the murder, the police are yet to nab the person, who stabbed Abhimanyu to death.
Rifa’s arrest comes a week after the arrest of Mohammed, a key accused in the murder of Abhimanyu.
On July 15, the police had also nabbed Adhil, a CFI district committee member, in connection with the case. According to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, Adhil was directly involved in executing the crime.
Abhimanyu, who was studying at the Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam was stabbed to death on July 1 during a clash between SFI students and CFI workers.
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc Chemistry student, was allegedly stabbed in the heart by Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and CFI members. This was after an argument over which group gets to paint a wall to welcome the new batch of students.
The police also conducted a massive crackdown on SDPI workers earlier in July, reportedly detaining several people across the state. The police had also questioned two SDPI workers – Riyas and Niyas – who were earlier acquitted in Professor TJ Joseph's hand-chopping case.
In connection with the murder, the principal of Maharaja’s college received an anonymous letter abusing the slain student. The letter also reportedly criticised the financial help extended by the college authorities to Abhimanyu’s family, according to The New Indian Express. A Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) cadre received death threats from the SDPI, for a Facebook post he put up, criticising the SDPI for their role in the murder of Abhimanyu.