Ten accused were arrested on Sunday, December 12, in connection with the brutal murder of a man in the Pothencode area of Thiruvananthapuram, the police have said. Police suspect 11 people to be behind the murder, which took place on Saturday. Sudheesh, 32 was attacked in his home by a gang. The attackers threw country-made bombs and then hacked Sudheesh to death. His left foot was severed and thrown on the road by the gang before they fled, the police said.
The visuals of the culprits escaping from the scene were captured on CCTV cameras in the neighbourhood. South Zone DIG of Police, Sanjay Kumar Garudin told media persons that the murder was part of gang rivalry and the deceased Sudheesh had killed one of the members of the rival gang a couple of days ago.
Hours after the murder on Saturday night the police zeroed in on Ranjith, who was the driver of the autorickshaw in which the culprits had travelled to commit the crime, was arrested from his residence at Vanchiyoor in the city. The gang had come in three vehicles, two motorbikes and one autorickshaw to attack Sudheesh.
However, the police have been criticised as Sudheesh was the first accused in an attempted murder at Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram city. The police had reported that he was in hiding.
BJP Thiruvananthapuram district president VV Rajesh said that the state police failed once more in preventing a brutal murder at the state capital. While speaking to IANS, the BJP leader said, "How can the police wash its hands off from this murder. The police were reporting that Sudheesh was in hiding and the question that arises is how the rival gang could pinpoint the location of Sudheesh and murder him. The police force in the state is continuously failing and the Chief Minister, who is in charge of the home department, does not have any control over the police."
Meanwhile, police said that all the culprits have been identified and 10 people are in police custody.