THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Five more people, including the main accused, have been arrested in the Karamana Akhil murder case.

The Karamana Police arrested the first accused Vineeth Raj (25) of Lakshamveedu in Kaimanam's Niramankara, the second accused Akhil (Appu 26) of Arakuthuvila house in Kaimanam, the third accused Sumesh, Harilal (27) from Thiruvallam and Kiran Krishnan (25) from Thirumala. The first three accused allegedly committed the murder. The fourth accused, Aneesh, who had taken the car on rent, was arrested last day. Arun Babu and Abhilash, who are involved in the conspiracy, and others are to be arrested. Akhil Harilal, Vineesh and Sumesh are accused in several cases. Kiran is on the rowdy list of Karamana station. The police said that all the accused are drug addicts and hardened criminals.

Akhil was brutally murdered near his house in broad daylight on Friday using hollow brick blocks and rod. On the polling day at 10 pm, Akhil and his friends had an encounter with the accused at the bar. The reason for the provocation was that Akhil didn't give way while the accused were entering the bar. Kiran and Akhil, who were among the accused, were beaten with stones. However, no complaint was filed. The bar authorities told the police that the beating took place on the ground outside the bar. It was during the investigation conducted by the Special Branch that the accused were found to be involved in the Ananthu murder case. It is alleged that the police did not take it seriously even though the Special Branch gave a report that there would be an attack in this situation.

Except for Kiran, all the other accused are the accused in the Ananthu murder case that rocked Thiruvananthapuram in 2019. Nineteen-year-old Ananthu was beaten to death following an argument during a temple festival.