Shuhaib murder case: Friends identify accused, Congress firm on CBI probe

Kannur: Two persons, Noushad and Riyas, who were hacked along with Youth Congress leader Shuhaib, and another witness, who wanted to remain anonymous, have identified the two accused, Akash Thillankery and Rejil Raj. A team led by Kannur special sub-jail judicial first class magistrate V.A. Antony brought the witnesses to the jail and conducted an identification parade on Friday. Meanwhile, Kannur DCC chief Satheesan Pacheni has demanded a fair investigation into the murder and the conspiracy behind it.

"The truth can be brought out only through a CBI probe. Though the state government has promised to seek a CBI investigation, it was yet to make any request to the central agency," he said. "We have trust in the district police chief, but his hands are tied. Information regarding the police searches is being leaked by his team members. Then how can the investigation be fair? Already 12 days have passed after the murder and two CPM men are behind bars. More than six men are in custody. Why they can't get information about the rest of the killers?" asked Mr Pacheni.

'Dummy' claim no longer: As the witnesses identified the two accused who directly took part in the murder, the 'dummy' claim of the Congress will no longer exist. The protest in front of the Kannur Collectorate, led by K. Sudhakaran was mainly based on the party's distrust in the investigation and reiterating that the accused produced by the police were 'dummy'. Mr Sudhakaran said on Friday that identification of the accused was important and he was no longer sticking to the 'dummy' claim. At the same time, his strike would continue, demanding the nabbing of the rest and probing the role of the criminals, who were out on parole.