An all-party meeting, which was convened by the Kerala government in the wake of recent killings of SDPI's KS Shan and BJP functionary Ranjith Sreenivas in Alappuzha, unanimously condemned the murders and urged every political party to maintain peace. Amid criticism from the opposition over the alleged lapses on the part of the state police, the government said those involved in the killings will be rounded up and brought to justice.
The meeting was attended by leaders of all political parties and was chaired by ministers Saji Cheriyan and GR Anil. Former leader of opposition and Congress MLA Ramesh Chennithala also participated. Cheriyan, while explaining the decisions taken at the meeting, told the media that the investigation will not be compromised in any manner and all those who carried out the killings and the conspirators will be brought to justice.
"The all-party peace meeting urged everyone to maintain peace. Both the murders were brutal. The state government will bring to justice all those who have taken part in the killings and the conspiracy behind the brutal murders. The all-party meeting has unanimously condemned the murders. The political parties which took part in the meeting will make an effort and launch campaigns on their own to maintain peace in the district," Cheriyan said.
The Minister said there will be a joint effort from all political parties to ensure that no further incidents will happen again and urged them to organise peace meetings on their own.
"There will be no compromise in terms of the investigation. All culprits who took part in the murders and the conspiracy before that will be brought before justice," the minister said.
Earlier in the day, ADGP (Law and Order) Vijay Sakhare, who is heading the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the two separate cases, claimed "good development" in the investigation of the recent killings and said several suspects have been taken into custody and interrogation is progressing fast to identify whether they were directly involved in the crime.
While SDPI state secretary Shan was killed by a gang on the night of December 18 while he was on his way back home, the BJP OBC Morcha state secretary Sreenivas was hacked to death in front of his family by some assailants in his house on the morning of December 19.
ADGP Sakhare said all aspects including the conspiracy angle would be investigated after the culprits are identified. Social media surveillance has been intensified in connection with the murders, the officer said and warned of stringent action against those putting up provocative and illegal posts.
The senior IPS officer also said there is good development in the investigation and he and his team were expecting to get a "breakthrough" in the case soon. "We have taken several suspects into custody. But it is too early to say whether they were directly involved in the crime. Our immediate target is to complete the interrogation at the earliest, identify the culprits and record their arrest," Sakhare told reporters.
No specific confirmation could be given right now unless the story is clear to the investigators, he said.
Seeking to maintain the law and order situation and to check recurring of similar crimes, raids have been carried out across the district and several history-sheeters have been taken into custody, the official added.
Police on Monday, December 20, had arrested two persons in connection with the death of Shan and claimed "substantial lead" in the investigation into the murder of Sreenivas.