After a long period of 25 years, the Kerala police nabbed the real accused in the murder of an RSS man. Sunil Kumar, a native of Thrissur district, was stabbed and murdered by a gang who barged into his house on the night of December 4, 1994.
According to reports, the police had initially arrested four CPI(M) workers in connection with the murder, who were acquitted by the High Court of Kerala in 2012.
Chavakkad native Moinudeen, who used to be a member of the now-defunct extremist organisation Jam-Iyyathul Ihsania, has been arrested, reported Asianet. Jam-Iyyathul Ihsania, reportedly also known as the Sunni Tiger Force, was an extremist organisation which was active in districts like Malappuram, Thrissur and Palakkad in the 1990s.
The case, which was initially probed by the local police, led to the arrest of four CPI(M) workers. The four were reportedly sentenced to life by the Thrissur sessions court. However, an investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in 2012 into another case revealed the connection of Jam-Iyyathul Ihsania in the murder of Sunil Kumar. The four CPI(M) members were at the central prison in Kannur at the time.
The Anti-Terrorism Squad reportedly informed the High Court that the real culprits were not punished in the case. Following this, the four CPI(M) workers were acquitted, and the court ordered a probe into other murder cases which were allegedly carried out by the extremist outfit.
In 2017, the Crime Branch restarted its probe into the cases. This is the first arrest.
There are seven accused in the Sunil Kumar case, one of whom is reportedly dead, and the rest are still absconding.
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