Murder accused found hiding in house near Kerala CM's residence

An RSS activist, accused of the recent murder of a ruling CPI(M) worker, was found hiding in the locked house of a non-resident Keralite (NRK), located near Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's residence in this north Kerala district.

Police on Friday arrested Nijildas (38), a prime accused in the killing of CPI(M) activist Punnol Haridasan, from the house owned by one Prashanth, reportedly a former CPI(M) sympathiser, who has been working in the Gulf for some time.

Prashanth's wife, Reshma, a higher secondary school teacher and a friend of Nijildas was also arrested by the police for facilitating the stay of the murder accused in their house, located at Pandyalamukku in Pinarayi. Reshma was staying in another house near Andaloorkavu since her husband went abroad and the house in Pinarayi was kept locked.

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According to police sources, Nijildas had been absconding since Haridas was hacked to death allegedly by RSS workers in February. He was staying in several places since then and requested Reshma to arrange a place for hiding, they said adding that the accused was suspected to have been staying in Pinarayi since April 17.

After the news of the arrest broke out, country-made bombs were thrown at the house last night. The window panes were broken by unidentified persons and two bombs were hurled at the building later. Meanwhile, an RSS worker hiding in a house in their bastion, too near the Chief Minister's house, has shocked local CPI(M) activists.

The ruling party's Pinarayi local secretary, Kakkoth Rajan, told the media that Prashanth and his family were the CPI(M) supporters. However, he said the party leadership did not have any knowledge about who had hurled the bomb at their house.

As the issue triggered a controversy, CPI(M) district secretary M V Jayarajan later clarified that it was "factually wrong" to say that CPI(M) family had given protection to a murder accused. He also alleged that both Prashanth and Reshma had close connections with the RSS and the man even adopted a strong stand supporting the right-wing outfit on many issues before he went abroad.

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