THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Over a month has passed since the murder of gangster Kannadi Shaji that shook the city. Investigation led to the arrests of seven persons. But, the police are yet to unravel the real motive and the key plotters behind the gruesome murder.Shaji was hacked to death by a group of assailants near Kowdiar on November 2. Though police, from the beginning, had suspected gang rivalry as the provocation for the murder, several officers in the department and the public found it hard to digest. That was when a special team was constituted to probe deep into the matter.Even after a month-long investigation, there has not been much progress, with officers shying to go beneath the surface of the issue.According to Peroorkada Circle Inspector V Jayachandran, the real motive behind the killing has not been revealed yet, and it will take some more days of investigation to unravel the mystery shrouding the crime. But he refuted the allegation that there was a lapse in the probe and told City Express that the conspiracy part would be soon revealed.”We have got definite leads from interrogating Ambalamukku Krishna Kumar and Sanish. It would be early to say that it was gang rivalry that led to the murder. With each arrest and corroboration of evidence, the probe is going in different directions,” he said.Meanwhile, sources in the department, on condition of anonymity, said that the needle of suspicion points to Aryanad Syam, a kingpin of the recent counterfeit currency case and an accused in more than a score criminal cases. This twist has caught officers, who till then believed than there was not much to be unearthed in the murder case, off-guard.It has been confirmed by the investigation team that it had made several attempts to take Syam into custody. Getting a wind of the police’s intentions, Syam is said to be absconding. This has been affecting the pace of the probe.‘‘We have obtained substantial leads pointing to Syam. Only after interrogating him would we get a clear picture of the events. But the dimension of the case is getting bigger day by day,” an officer said.It is said that non-cooperation of Ambalamukku Krishna Kumar has affected the investigation. One of the top officials in the Police Department, after interrogating Krishna Kumar, had described him as a ‘’robot with a sadistic mind.’’ The personal diary seized by the police has thrown light on his psychopathic behaviour.Krishna Kumar, an accused in four murder cases, had complained to the magistrate that he was being subjected to custodial torture by the investigation team.On the other hand, there is no dearth of rumours that the murdered Shaji had poked into some shady business being monopolised by Syam and accomplices. This had led to the killing. But the investigating team refused to comment on this and said that all the angles would be subjected to probe.
Comments
0 comment