3 accused arrested in CPI(M) worker's killing; 2 absconding

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Three persons were today arrested in connection with the killing of a local CPI(M) leader at nearby Palloor on May 7, police said. The three are Nijesh P K, Jerin Suresh and Sarath P K. Two others are absconding, they said.

All of them were produced before a local court and remanded to judicial custody, police said. Nijesh was the first to be arrested and based on his confession, the other two were nabbed, a press release quoting Apoorva Gupta, Senior Superintendent of Police (Law and Order), Puducherry, said. The hunt is on for two more absconding accused, who would be arrested soon, she said.

She said a special investigation team had questioned witnesses and locals. Their efforts revealed the real motive behind the killing of Kannipoyil Babu, a local CPI(M) leader and former councillor, was long standing enmity between the accused and the deceased, she said. The team finally located the trio, who were on the run across Kannur and Kozhikode districts, she said.

The accused -- O P Rejeesh and Kareekunnummal Suni, who are absconding, conspired with the others, hatched a plot to kill Babu and carried it out on on May 7. The CPI(M) had alleged that BJP was behind the attack.

Shortly after Babu's killing, in an apparent retaliatory attack, Shemaj, an autorickshaw driver, was pulled out of his vehicle and hacked to death by a six-member gang at New Mahe near Kannur. Mahe,a former French colony,is located between Thalassery in politically volatile Kannur district and Vadakara in Kozhikode district. New Mahe comes under Kannur district.

Both CPI(M) and BJP had observed a hartal in Kannur district and Mahe on May 8,protesting against the killings. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had visited Babu's house on Saturday night and spent some time with the bereaved family members.

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