Kerala: Two RSS Men Arrested for Murder of SDPI Leader

New Delhi, 21 Dec 2021 [Fik/News Sources]: Two men associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been arrested by the Kerala Police in a case related to the assassination of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state secretary K S Shan.

The police identified the duo as Prasad and Ratheesh who are members of the RSS. Both the accused are from Mannancheri in Alappuzha, a village the victim hailed from.

Superintendent of police (SP) G Jaidev was quoted by the Indian Express confirming that the duo was alleged to have hatched a conspiracy to kill Shan.

Eight more men including those who allegedly executed the heinous act are in the police net.

Prasad and Ratheesh, police said, arranged a vehicle for the assassins to carry out the murder.

The SDPI also alleged that the right-wing organisation was behind the murder of its top leader in the state as it announced state-wide protests against “RSS terror”.

In what appears to be a retaliatory act, barely 12 hours after Shan’s killing, state secretary of the BJP OBC Morcha Ranjith Sreenivasan was hacked to death at his residence in Alappuzha area.

The party blamed Popular Front of India and SDPI for Sreenivasan’s killing.

A number of SDPI workers were detained for questioning but police said the culprits responsible for BJP leader’s murder are yet to be arrested.

A CCTV footage, the police claimed shows 12 men entering Sreenivasan’s lane on two-wheelers.

In the wake of the murders, police have beefed up security measures, restricting use of loudspeakers and rallies in the state for the next three days.

Nityanand Rai, junior home minister in the Modi cabinet, led a BJP delegation, paid homage to the party’s departed leader, said an Express report.