Second accused in Mansoor murder case found hanging from tree

Second accused in Mansoor murder case found hanging from tree
Ratheesh and Mansoor

Kannur: Three days after the murder of Youth League activist in a post-poll clash allegedly between workers of the CPI(M) and the IUML at Koothuparamba here, one of the nearly dozen accused was found dead in an isolated area at Chekkiad in neighbouring Kozhikode district on Friday.

The deceased has been identified as Ratheesh, 35, a Panoor native. He was the second accused in the murder case, the police said.

Ratheesh, who worked at a workshop near the Chekkiad Village Office, was a CPI(M) activist. In fact, 11 people named in the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Kerala Police over the killing of Mansoor are either activists of the CPI(M) or its youth wing DYFI.

"Some locals informed the police about the body of an unidentified person found hanging from the tree. We circulated his photograph and found that he was an accused in the IUML worker death case," a police official told PTI.

Youth League member Mansoor, 22, was killed when a group of people waylaid him and his brother Muhsin, a UDF poll agent, near their home. They hurled bombs at the duo before attacking Mansoor with sharp weapons on April 6, witnesses had said.

Police said Ratheesh, a neighbour of Mansoor, was absconding. Police have already arrested Shinos in the case.

Ratheesh, son of late Kooloth Balan and Padmini, was a bachelor.

The state police had on Thursday handed over the murder case to the district crime branch and a 15-member team had initiated probe into the incident.

IUML leader P K Kunhalikutty earlier said that his party lacked confidence in the probe team.

While the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has alleged that the ruling CPI(M) was behind the killing of Mansur, the Left party dismissed the charge and asserted that it was not a political murder.

(With PTI inputs)

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