Ernakulam: The two main accused in the murder of Maharaja’s College student Abhimanyu last year are likely to surrender.
Sources said the other accused and their families had been exerting pressure on Shahal Hamsa, 22, and Muhammed Shaheem, 32, to surrender. The other accused, 24 in total, and families have been facing a lot of social and legal issues as the two main accused had been evading arrest since the murder on July 2, 2018.
The police had framed charges and initiated prosecution against 16 men who were found ‘directly’ involved in the brutal murder of the college student. Investigators had found that Shahal had stabbed Abhimanyu and Shaheem inflicted injuries on another student Arjun Krishna.
The assailants were reportedly antagonised as the hardline Campus Front was denied organisational freedom on the campus. The police could not find evidence to any personal enmity against Abhimanyu.
The other accused had got legal opinion that they would be relatively ‘safe’ in this context. The 24 other accused had been pressing for early conclusion of the prosecution and court hearings. They do not want to rub the police and the prosecution the wrong way, especially with the two main accused not cooperating with the investigation and evading arrest.
Sources said most of the accused who did not have direct involvement in the crime were either students or young men. A delay in hearing and court proceedings could have serious implications on their lives. This is why they had been exerting pressure on the two main accused to surrender.
Abhimanyu, 20, from Vattavada in Idukki and an SFI Idukki district committee member, was stabbed to death late on July 1 after a dispute over graffiti with members of the Campus Front, the students wing of the Islamic Popular Front of India.
Abhimanyu was a second-year BSc chemistry student at the college.
The SFI and the Campus Front have been writing on college walls as it is a routine practice at the beginning of the academic year. The problem started when some students started to write over graffiti put up by the rival group. One such writing was 'communalism' over the writing 'Campus Front.'
The SFI alleged that the Campus Front destroyed some of the boards they had set up welcoming new students as the academic year was starting on July 2.
