Kasaragod: A team investigating the murder of two Youth Congress workers in Kerala, has taken the CPI(M) Periya local area committee member A Peethambaran into custody.

The probe team had received crucial information that the person behind the murders was a CPM local area committee member of Periya.

The police received the information from those taken into custody earlier. Seven more CPI(M) workers are also in custody. The FIR filed in the case indicated that the CPM local area leadership had malice against Sarath and Kripesh, who were killed.

Sarath and Kripesh, the two Youth Congress workers, were hacked to death in a conflict with CPM at Kallyot, Periya near Kasaragod.

The incident happened at around 8:30 PM on Sunday. The victims, who were on a motorcycle, were hacked to death by a group of persons that came in a car. Kripesh died on the way to the hospital and Sarath passed away on his way to Mangaluru.

Meanwhile, Kripesh's father alleged that Peethambaran and Vatsan had a role in the double murder.

At a press conference on February 18, Kerala Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said that the CPI(M) is trying to destroy the Congress using its party’s goons. He also said the Youth Congress workers were killed without any provocation and the workers were not involved in any criminal activities. Chennithala also said the government should identify the culprits and arrest them as soon as possible.

On February 18, Youth Congress called for a state-wide hartal from 6 AM to 6 PM. The unexpected hartal which was initially declared only in Kerala’s Kasaragod district by the Congress and UDF was later extended across the state by the Youth Congress over the killings of its workers.