Muvattupuzha mob lynching: More people likely to be arrested, no lapse on part of police, says SP

KOCHI: More people are likely to be arrested in the incident where Arunachal Pradesh native Ashok Das (26) was beaten to death by a group of people in Valakom in Muvattupuzha. On Saturday, the police took the accused to the spot and collected evidence. Ernakulam Rural SP Vaibhav Saxena said that more arrests will be made if more people are found to be involved in the incident. The police are trying to collect more evidence against the accused in connection with the murder.

At present, the police have arrested 10 persons in the case. The arrested persons are Valakom natives Vijeesh, Aneesh, Sathyan, Sooraj, Keshav, Elias K Paul, Amal, Athulkrishna, Emil and Sanal. The post-mortem report stated that the bleeding in the brain and the lung injury due to the beating led to the death of Ashok Das. It is said that two more persons will be arrested in the incident.

The SP said there was no lapse on the part of the police in the incident. "The police reached the spot within 10 minutes after learning about the incident and arrested 10 people," the SP said.

The girlfriends of Ashok Das have recorded statements against the accused. The police recorded the arrests of the accused after the girlfriends of the deceased recorded confidential statements in the court. Following this, they took the accused to Valakom and collected evidence.

Ashok Das was beaten by the group on Thursday night. Although the police rushed him to the Muvattupuzha General Hospital early in the morning, he died while he was being shifted for specialist treatment.