The police have arrested a couple of merchants at Mukkali in connection with the video-recorded lynching of Madhu, aged 35. Palakkad: The mob lynching of a young tribesman in an Attappadi village will be investigated at the magisterial level, tribal welfare minister A K Balan said after the atrocious crime sparked angry reactions around Agali. The minister said that the Mannarkkad tehsildar has been entrusted to launch the inquiry.
The minister also said that he would visit the Attappadi tribal belt on Saturday and assured that all the guilty people would be brought to justice.
The police have arrested a couple of merchants at Mukkali in connection with the video-recorded lynching of Madhu, aged 35. The mentally challenged youngster was picked up on Thursday afternoon by a group of people who suspected he had stolen food from the shops in the area.
They stripped him, tied him and beat him mercilessly before handing over to the police. The tribesmen vomited in the police jeep and died before he was taken to a hospital.
Kerala police chief Loknath Behera said that the incident would be investigated by a special team led by Thrissur inspector general M R Ajith Kumar. Speaking to reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, the director general of police said that the police were close to nabbing all the accused.
The Agali police have arrested K Hussain and P P Karim. Five other suspects are being interrogated. The police suspect the involvement of at least 15 people in the lynching.
A tribal organization has threatened to launch a day-and-night agitation before the Agali police station until all the suspects were held. Leaders of the Attappadi Adivasi Protection Committee warned of a sit-in from Friday evening but later held conciliatory talks with the police and several political leaders.
The tribal community, including the family of the deceased youngster, even waylaid the ambulance that was carrying the body for conducting post-mortem at the Government Medical College at Thrissur. They demanded the arrest of all accused before the body could be examined.
The district collector and the district police chief pacified them later. Madhu’s sister Sarasa collapsed during the agitation. She has been admitted to the Tribal Specialty Hospital at Kottathara.
The BJP has called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Mannarkkad taluk to protest the murder.
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