Chalakudy murder: Main accused Johnny, aide arrested

The police tracked down main accused C Johnny and his close aide to a farmhouse in Palakkad They have been taken into custody and are being kept at an undisclosed location in Thrissur The murder case drew attention after the name of advocate CP Udayabhanu had surfaced in the media

The police arrested two more persons,  in connection with the murder of real estate broker Rajeev at Chalakkudy near Thrissur, on Sunday night.

The police tracked down main accused C Johnny and his close aide to a farmhouse in Palakkad. Both were on the run after the arrest of four of their accomplices. They have been taken into custody and are being kept at an undisclosed location in Thrissur, with the police trying to unearth more information about the murder.

Rajeev, 43, was found dead in a building near Chalakkudy on Friday morning. The murder case drew attention after the name of CP Udayabhanu, an extremely popular High Court advocate, who is very close to the state CPM leadership and top police officials, had surfaced in the media.

Ever since Rajeev's body was found, Udayabhanu's name has been doing the rounds in the media, after a friend of the deceased said the broker had filed a complaint stating that he was being threatened by the advocate.

Rajeev's teenage son gave a detailed statement to the police on Sunday. He mentioned Udayabhanu's name and said that his father often interacted with the advocate regarding matters concerning real estate deals.

Thrissur SP Yathish Chandra told reporters that there were six people involved in the murder, adding the conspiracy angle would not be looked into to get to the bottom of the case.

(With agency inputs)