Two accused, who were on the run after the arrest of four of their accomplices in connection with the murder of a real estate broker at Chalakkudy near Thrissur, were held on Sunday night, police said.
Police tracked down the key accused C. Johnny and his close aide to a farm house in nearby Palakkad district. Both were taken into custody and have been kept at an undisclosed location in Thrissur, with the police trying to unearth more information about the murder.
This murder case drew attention because the name of an extremely popular advocate, who is very close to the top CPI-M leadership and top police officials, had surfaced in the media.
Ever since Rajeev's body was found, the advocate's name started doing the rounds in the media after a friend of the deceased said the broker had filed a complaint stating that he was being threatened by the advocate.
Rajeev's teenaged son gave a detailed statement to the police on Sunday. He mentioned the advocate's name and said that he knew his father as they often had interactions concerning real estate deals.
Rajeev, 43, was found dead on Friday morning near Thrissur.
The murder came to light on Friday after Raju, a local, strayed into the building, where the crime occurred as per a report in Manorama Online.
Earlier, the police had planned to issue a look-out notice as it suspected the key accused C. Johnny to have left the country, as per a report in The Hindu.
Thrissur (Rural) Superintendent of Police Yathish Chandra told reporters in Thrissur on Saturday that there were six people involved in the murder, adding the conspiracy angle would be looked into, to get to the bottom of this case.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala had earlier demanded a CBI investigation into the case and sent a letter to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in this regard.
(With IANS inputs)