Kerala, Feb 14 (Agencies) : A young widow and her three women relatives were arrested in Alappuzha on Friday on charges of conspiring and hiring a gang to kill the person who had been allegedly the prime accused in her husband’s murder case.

Last week, five men have been arrested on charges of executing the murder.

According to police, Kalavoor Venugopal, a local BJP worker, was hacked to death by a gang on January 29 in Alappuzha. Venugopal had been the first accused in the murder of K Chandralal, an employee with Kerala State Electricity Board, in 2013. Chandralal, a CPI (M) activist, had been involved in several criminal cases in the region.

Police said Chandralal’s wife Smitha, 28, wanted to avenge the murder of her husband. She roped in her close relatives Rajani, Girija and her daughter Greeshma, a college student.

Investigating officer K G Aneesh said Smitha, who had got a job in KSEB following the death of her husband, had taken a decision to take revenge upon the killers several months back. With the help of a local man, who is still absconding, Smitha identified a supari gang in another district Pathanamthitta.

The officer said the five-member gang had two failed attempts in last three months. The other three women were mainly assigned to monitor the movements of Venugopal, who was their neibhour.

Since it was a revenge for the death of their relative Chandralal, the three women were not hesitant in offering their support. But, the women were not compensated financially for abetting the crime, said the police.

Last week, police had arrested five persons, including the four-member supari gang, in connection with Venugopal’s murder. Among the arrested men, one had been a friend of the deceased Chandralal.