The Kerala police have released CCTV footage related to the killing of Ranjith Sreenivas, a BJP leader, who was hacked to death in his home on Sunday, December 19. The video shows at least six bikes with pillion riders, all of them wearing helmets and covering their face, entering into the lane where Ranjith, an OBC Morcha state secretary lived. A few minutes later, the bikes are seen coming out of the lane and speeding away. The incident took place around 7 am.
Watch the video below.
Kerala's coastal Alappuzha district was rocked by back-to-back killings of two party leaders, the first belonging to the SDPI and the second to the BJP, leading to clamping of prohibitory orders by police on Sunday. Prohibitory orders under CrPC Section 144 were imposed in the entire Alappuzha district, and additional police force was deployed. Senior officers camped in the district to monitor the law and order situation.
While the political parties and their leaders condemned the killings, they have blamed each other or the state government for what happened. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, reacting to the murders, said he was "ashamed" and "very sad" by what had happened and appealed to all parties concerned to "have faith in the system, in democracy and civilised behaviour."
By Sunday afternoon, Inspector General Harshita Attaluri told reporters that police have taken into custody around 50 people, including anti-social elements, suspects as well as workers of BJP, RSS and SDPI. The officer said that not all of the persons in custody are criminals and that the police were "examining and investigating" the two cases.
The police will take action against those behind the crimes irrespective of whether they are political bigwigs, anti-social elements or members of the public, she said. Thereafter, the district administration announced that an all party meeting would be held at the Collectorate on Monday afternoon to ensure peace in the area.
With PTI inputs