The Crime Branch detained a Youth Congress leader in connection with the attack on the AKG Centre, the State headquarters of Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI (M)], on Thursday.
The Kerala Police have achieved a breakthrough in the case nearly three months after the incident that had escalated political tensions in the State.
Also read: Attack on AKG Centre scripted by CPI(M), says KPCC president K. Sudhakaran
Suspect and evidence
Jithin V. Kulathoor, the Attipra constituency president of the Congress-feeder organisation, was taken into custody by a Crime Branch team from his house around 8.30 a.m. While he is currently being interrogated in Jawahar Nagar in the city, his arrest is likely to be recorded soon, official sources said.
The police relied heavily on circumstantial and scientific evidence to zero in on the Youth Congress leader. Investigators claim a taxi that he leased out to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), a T-shirt and a pair of shoes turned out to be crucial in the probe.
While the police had earlier identified a scooter used by the perpetrator who hurled the low-intensity explosive at the AKG Centre around 11.25 p.m. on June 30, they were unable to seize the vehicle. However, it scoured the CCTV footage to find the scooter roam the interior roads of Kunnukuzhy and Gowreeshapattom before halting close to a taxi in Gowreeshapattom.
While the car flaunted a nameplate of the KSEB, it was subsequently known that the vehicle was used by the Kazhakuttom assistant executive engineer of the power utility, who told the police that he had returned the vehicle to Jithin, its owner, around 6.30 p.m. on June 30 after the day’s work.
Second line of investigation
The sleuths pursued another line of investigation by identifying the clothes worn by the perpetrator by enhancing the grainy footage recovered from the party office. The T-shirt allegedly matched with a particular model sold by a popular retail outlet, the employees of which informed the police that Jithin was one among the 10-odd customers who had purchased it. The Youth Congress leader was found to have worn shoes in images uploaded in his Facebook profile similar to the one identified through the CCTV footage, sources said.
Besides, the suspect has been accused of formatting his mobile phone while he was earlier called for questioning. However, his mobile phone records purportedly revealed his presence in Gowreeshapattom around the time of the incident.
