Kannur Congressman murder: CPI (M) men ‘confess’, opposition says surrender staged

The accused in the brutal murder of Shuhaib, a Youth Congress worker, near Kannur last week, while giving their statement have claimed that their intention was not to kill Shuhaib but to inflict injuries below the knees.

The Kerala police had arrested two CPI (M) workers, Akash (23) and Rijin Raj (24), on Sunday around 10 pm. The arrest was recorded around 10.30 pm based on the statement given by the accused. The investigation is led by a special team headed by Kannur Inspector General of Police Mahipal Yadav.

Shuhaib (29) was waiting at an eatery near Mattanoor around 11.30 pm on February 12 when four persons in a car hurled bombs to create panic and then slashed him fatally with a sword.

Speaking to TNM, Mahipal said, “No matter what the accused have told us, the injuries inflicted on Shuhaib are fatal and it is hard to believe that they were done without the intention of killing.”

“The injuries were so grievous… there were more than 35 cuts on the lower part of his body and most of them were fatal. So, such frivolous statements from the accused will not hold ground. There are some more names that have come up after the arrest of these two and the investigation is progressing in full swing,” the officer added.

Meanwhile Kannur District Police Chief, G Siva Vikram IPS, is reported to have informed the state police chief and other superiors that there were attempts made by his subordinate officers to sabotage the investigation.

Reacting to the allegations, DGP Loknath Behra told the media, “The allegations made by Kannur police chief Siva Vikram are serious and will be looked into immediately. This is a grievous political murder case and any immoral behaviour on the part of the police will not be tolerated.”

“All the concerns raised by the Congress leaders and questions regarding the murder of Shuhaib will be answered. The team is led by Mahipal Yadav. He is one of the best investigating officers that Kerala police has,” DGP Behra added.

Senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran launched a 48-hour hunger strike in front of the collectorate at 10 am on Monday protesting the alleged slackness from the side of the police officials in nabbing the real culprits behind the murder.

Five days after Shuhaib’s murder, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan on Sunday put out a Facebook post breaking his silence on the incident and condemning the murder.

“The government has told the police and the investigating officers to take stringent actions against those found guilty in the murder. The affiliations of the accused to any political party will not act as a hindrance in moving forward with the investigation,” read the post.

This was after a picture of both the accused allegedly posing with the Chief Minister and CPI (M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan came out.

Meanwhile, Congress and BJP leaders have lashed out saying that the surrender by the CPI (M) workers is a staged incident.

“To the best of our knowledge, the two CPI (M) workers in custody are not the real culprits. What is even more intriguing is that police did not arrest them. Instead, local CPI (M) leaders presented the two accused at the police station. All this while the CPI (M) leadership was saying that the party had no role in the murder but it has now been proved wrong,” senior Congress leader K Sudhakaran said.

BJP state chief Kummanam Rajasekharan told the media that the two accused were housed at the state CPI (M) headquarters in Kannur.

“For long, state CPI (M) first denies role in such murders but later it comes to light that the accused are CPI (M) workers. What is suspicious now is that the two were presented to police by local CPI (M) leaders. For the truth to come out, only a CBI probe will suffice,” said Rajasekharan.