Kozhikode: Police have arrested Ajay Ayanki, 24, brother of history-sheeter Arjun Ayanki, for allegedly helping him while he was absconding.

Ajay, a resident of Kovvaladi Ayanki House at Azhikode in Kannur, was taken into custody from outside an online delivery firm at East Nadakkavu in Kozhikode around 12.30 am on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Arjun was also arrested in the wee hours of Sunday after police traced him to a flat in Kannur.

According to the police, Ajay arranged crowdfunding through social media to raise money for Arjun, who was then evading arrest. The funds were directed to Arjun’s account through a QR code shared on social media, cops added.

Police said the QR code used for the crowdfunding campaign was prepared by another brother of Arjun, Arun Ayanki.

The Nadakkavu police subsequently recorded Ajay’s arrest. The first information report (FIR) states that he was detained as a preventive measure for assisting Arjun and for conduct that police claimed challenged the law enforcement and judicial systems and could send a wrong message to the public.

On Saturday, a special squad of police had taken four persons into custody from Edappal in Malappuram for accompanying Arjun Ayanki in a coffee shop.

Amid an ongoing police search covering the entire state, CCTV footage emerged showing Arjun Ayanki at a cafe inside a private Ayurveda hospital in Edappal on Saturday. Ayanki was accompanied by four people from Vattamkulam and spent nearly an hour at the cafe before leaving the area.

Later, these four persons were taken into custody. During interrogation, they reportedly told police that they had accompanied Ayanki to Edappal and had food with him at the cafe. They said Ayanki spent around an hour there before leaving towards Kannur.