Three accused in SDPI leader\'s killing at Alappuzha granted bail by Kerala High Court

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Thursday granted bail to three of the accused in the murder case of SDPI state secretary K S Shan who was hacked to death on the night of December 18 last year and which had led to an alleged retaliatory killing of a BJP leader the next morning.

One of the accused who was granted the relief was an ambulance driver who allegedly helped Shan's killers to escape by ferrying them in his ambulance.

This prompted the court to remark that one does not know what is happening in the ambulances here as a large number of them can be seen frequently criss-crossing the state, which is not so in other states of the country.

"We see so many ambulances criss-crossing on the roads here. Are there so many sick people in the state," Justice Gopinath asked.

The court granted bail to the three accused saying the only offence made out against them was under section 212 (harbouring an offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Further details of the order are awaited.

The back-to-back killings in Alappuzha on December 18-19 last year had rocked the coastal district and led to imposition of prohibitory orders there for a couple of days.

Shan was brutally attacked while he was on his way back home at night.

A car had rammed into his bike and as he fell down, the assailants inflicted around 40 injuries on him leading to his death, police had said.