Chandrasekharan murder: Three taken into custody

Kozhikode: The Kerala Police Saturday took into custody three suspects who are believed to be involved in the brutal murder of a former firebrand leader of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), who was hacked to death near here. T.P. Chandrasekharan, 51, was killed in Onchiyam near here Friday night while returning home on a two-wheeler. Police said his face was badly disfigured. The vehicle which the killers used, an Innova, has also been taken into custody. Speaking to IANS, a top police officer on condition of anonymity, said that those who have been picked up include facilitators, who are also likely to be involved in the crime. 'So far, no arrests have been made. But the investigation is going on. We are certain that we will be able to crack the case,' said the top police official. Director General of Police Jacob Punnoose told the media in New Delhi: 'As of now it looks like a pre-planned attack. A special police team has been formed to investigate it.' Chandrasekharan's body was taken from the Kozhikode Medical College hospital to the Town Hall for the public to pay homage and from there, it was taken to his home town. The funeral will take place Saturday night. Everywhere, huge crowds had gathered to have a one last look of the popular local leader who was brutally murdered. Meanwhile, both the ruling coalition as well as the opposition traded charges over the murder. The Congress Saturday blamed the CPI-M for the murder. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had called for a 12-hour state-wide shutdown Saturday which went off peacefully with shops and offices downing their shutters, but vehicles were allowed to ply. State Congress president Ramesh Chennithala, who reached Kozhikode told reporters that he has got information that this was a brutal crime that had the concurrence of the CPI- M. 'And now, it is for the police to come out with the truth. This crime shows how the CPI-M deals with its political adversaries,' said Chennithala. Home Minister T. Radhakrishnan has ordered a probe. Without naming anyone, he said it was known who was behind the murder. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy arrived from New Delhi in the wake of the incident. He reached the home of the deceased and met up with the immediate family members and assured them that the police will crack the case and the guilty will be booked. Left Democratic Front (LDF) convenor Vaikom Viswam denied the CPI-M's hand in the killing. 'This is (meant) to malign our party,' he said. 'We demand an impartial inquiry.' Chandrasekharan was close to former chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who now heads the opposition in the assembly, who came to pay his last respects. Chandrasekharan had left the CPI-M in 2008. In the 2009 local body polls, he led his newly-formed Revolutionary Marxist Party to victory in his home panchayat in Onchiyam and also in the nearby villages.