Absconding 'key assailant' in Kerala's RSS leader murder case arrested by NIA

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the alleged main assailant, who had been on the run for the past three years, in the 2022 “PFI-orchestrated” RSS leader Sreenivasan murder case of Kerala’s Palakkad.

Shamnad E K alias Shamnad Illikkal, a resident of Manjeri of Malappuram in Kerala, was carrying a reward of Rs 7 lakh for his arrest.

An accused in several other cases too, he was finally nabbed from Ernakulam after sustained efforts by NIA’s Absconder Tracking Team, an official statement said.

The accused had been allegedly under the protection of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) and was living under a concealed identity since the “gruesome killing” of RSS leader Sreenivasan.

The NIA investigations in the case, registered in September 2022, revealed that the murder conspiracy was allegedly hatched by PFI leaders and cadres with the aim to create communal divide, the statement claimed.

The outfit was allegedly engaged in radicalising vulnerable Muslim youth to promote its “violent agenda” of establishing Islamic Rule in India by 2047.

The recruits were trained in handling of weapons by PFI, which was also actively raising funds for carrying out acts of terror and violence in the country, it said.

The banned outfit was executing its “nefarious ” designs through multiple wings and units, such as ‘Reporters Wing’, ‘Physical and Arms Training Wing’ and ‘Service Teams’, as per NIA investigations, which further revealed that PFI was using its various campuses, facilities and infrastructure to impart arms training to selected cadres in the guise of Physical Education, Yoga Training, etc.

NIA has so far chargesheeted 63 accused as part of its ongoing investigations in the case, the statement said.