The Kerala Police on Friday ruled out the involvement of any political party in the murder of a 23-year-old Dalit Christian man in Kollam district, reported PTI. Kevin P Joseph was found dead in a stream near Thenmala on Monday, three days after he married Neenu Chacko at a sub-registrar’s office against the wishes of her family.
Inspector General (Ernakulam range) Vijay Sakhare, who headed the Special Investigation Team in the case, said it was “a clear case of personal enmity arising out of a love affair”. His remarks came after Opposition parties alleged that activists of Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist), were part of the gang that allegedly killed Joseph.
On Tuesday, the police arrested Chacko’s father, brother and three other relatives for allegedly abducting and killing Joseph with the help of nine others.
Meanwhile, an assistant sub-inspector of police called Biju, who was arrested and suspended for allegedly accepting bribe from one of the accused, told a magistrate’s court on Friday that that he was being made a scapegoat to save Kottayam’s former Superintendent of Police VM Mohammed Rafik, reported Manorama Online. Rafik reportedly is a relative of Neenu Chacko’s mother Rehna Chacko, who is also an accused in the case, and was transferred soon after the incident.
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