Kerala Police Stare Down The Barrel For Being 'Dormant' In Alappuzha BJP Leader's Alleged Murder Case

Ranjith, a leading lawyer in the Alappuzha Bar Council and a prominent face of the BJP in the district was reportedly killed in front of his mother, wife and daughter at his residence on December 19

Twin murders of politicians in Kerala. (Image: ABP Nadu)

New Delhi: A week passed by after the alleged twin murders of politicians in Kerala's Alappuzha district, but the state police couldn't find the culprit behind BJP leader Ranjith Sreenivasan, who contested from Alappuzha in the 2016 Legislative Assembly elections. 

Ranjith, a leading lawyer in the Alappuzha Bar Council and a prominent face of the BJP in the district was reportedly killed in front of his mother, wife and daughter at his residence on December 19.

The murder was suspected to be in retaliation to the killing of KS Shan, a Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) state Secretary on December 18 evening. The SDPI had alleged that Shan was killed by the RSS and BJP workers.

7 more persons have been arrested in connection with the alleged murder of SDPI leader KS Shaan in Alappuzha. Till now, 10 people have been arrested in this case: Kerala Police

— ANI (@ANI) December 25, 2021

While all the accused in the SDPI leader's murder were arrested, the Kerala Police is in the dark over the killers of Ranjith and have come under criticism from all quarters.

Kerala BJP President K Surendran said, "The Kerala Police have become dormant and inefficient, and the killers of advocate Ranjith Sreenivasan are still at large and it seems that the SDPI criminals are getting protection from the top. How else can one understand the inefficiency of police? It's been one week now since the prominent advocate was killed in broad daylight in his home. Kerala Police should immediately arrest these criminals to give justice."

The Congress has also come out heavily against the 'lethargy' of the state police: "Why is the Kerala Police lethargic in arresting criminals who have done a heinous murder in broad daylight in the heart of Alappuzha city."

The police have, however, claimed that the police team was going to nab the killers and all accused will soon be taken into custody.

Additional Director General of Police Vijay Sakhare, who is in charge of the investigation, while speaking to the media said the state police teams are on the lookout for the criminals who are directly involved in the murder. He said the Kerala Police teams in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are searching for Ranjith's killers.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Police have said that one of the SDPI activists who had directly participated in the murder is in their custody, but has not revealed his name and details.

Police sources said the person in their custody hails from Alappuzha city and was living close to the slain leader Ranjith Sreenivasan's residence.

(With inputs from IANS)