Thiruvananthapuram: An overnight operation by the city police's shadow unit under the tight supervision of seniors helped nab the suspected killers of RSS functionary S. L. Rajesh within hours of the incident. While the information provided by an eyewitness was crucial, mobile phone signals, information from friends and relatives and tracking possible hideouts netted 12 in 24 hours. Eighteen plainclothes men, split into four teams, were on their trail within an hour of the murder.
Cops verified their profiles and thus tracked their possible hideouts. Relatives and friends whom they could have contacted were also identified. They also shared details of suspects in their closed social media groups. The profiles of many of them were already available. The first breakthrough came by 2 am, with the arrest of Pramod.
The second was by 6 am. By morning another team joined them, and by evening the number of arrests reached 12. Senior officers including IG Manoj Abraham were closely monitoring. The police could not record dying declaration of the victim, as he was on the ventilator and he died within two hours. But what he told those who took him to the hospital could be crucial for prosecution.
