Walayar mob lynching case: SIT detains two more persons for questioning

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has detained two more persons for questioning in the Walayar mob lynching case where a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh was lynched to death on the suspicion of theft.

Officials said investigators were verifying whether the suspects, both residents of Attapallam, played an aggravating role in the hate crime or were merely mute onlookers. 

According to the police, a group of people confronted Ram Narayan Baghel, an odd-job worker from Karhi village in Chhattisgarh, who had arrived in Palakkad to seek work. 

The police case was that the group accused Ram Narayan Baghel of being an opportunistic thief and a criminal alien from Bangladesh, tried him publicly, and then systematically beat the worker to death. 

So far, the police have arrested four people in connection with the crime. They are A. Anu, C. Prasad, Murali, and K. Vipin

 Investigators were non-committal about their political affiliations, but noted that the suspects had a police record of political violence, including. attacks against CPI(M) workers. 

Their arrests sparked a political row, with CPI(M) State Committee member and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty alleging that the accused were committed RSS workers who campaigned for the BJP in the local body polls. He also accused Congress workers of aiding the RSS workers in unleashing wanton violence against Ram Narayan. “The Congress workers attacked Ram Narayan when emergency responders were moving him into the ambulance, he said. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused the CPI(M) of reading politics into the mob murder and said the suspects were of mixed political affiliations. Congress was yet to respond officially. 

State Police Chief Ravada A. Chandrasekhar told reporters that more arrests were likely and police had identified several eyewitnesses to the crime.

Another officer said the police would indict the accused for murder, read with violation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention) of Atrocities Act. 

Moreover, the police would seek the accused’s custodial interrogation and judicial permission to transfer the case to a fast-track court, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s guidelines for mob lynching cases. 

Investigators said they would also book the accused for hate speech. They said the suspects had created evidence against themselves by video recording Ram Narayan’s public lynching. 

Meanwhile, the government dispatched Ram Narayan’s mortal remains by flight to Chhattisgarh. Revenue Minister K. Rajan said Wednesday’s cabinet would weigh the quantum of compensation for Ram Narayan’s family and disburse ex gratia payment from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. 

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai condemned the incident on social media. On X, Mr Sai announced an ex gratia payment of ₹5 lakh to the bereaved family. He urged Kerala to seek deterrent punishment for the accused in the case.