Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 1 (IANS): The Kerala Police on Tuesday formally arrested four Congress workers alleged to be part of the conspiracy to eliminate two activists attached to the youth wing of the CPI-M.

The four were taken into custody by the police on Monday.

The cold-blooded murder took close to midnight on Sunday, when 24-year-old Haq Mohammed and 32-year-old Mithilaj, both youth wing activists of the CPI-M were hacked to death by five people who came on a bike armed with swords and knives at Venjaramoodu, about 25 km from the state capital's suburbs.

According to the police, the arrested include Shejith, Ajith, Najeeb and Sathi, while two others -- the prime accused Sajeev and Sanal -- are yet to be arrested. Four more persons have been picked up by the police for questioning.

Even though the FIR does not mention that this is a political murder, the police pointed out that these two factions first clashed during the May 2019 Lok Sabha polls and since then, there has been an uneasy calm between them.

While the top CPI-M leadership, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, condemned the twin murder and ordered a probe into it, the Congress said their party had no role in it.

The incident occurred close to midnight when the two deceased, who were travelling on a bike, were stopped and attacked by the five persons who came on two bikes. While Mithilaj died on the spot, Mohammed died in the hospital.

After the incident, angry CPI-M workers went around the area and are alleged to have damaged the Congress offices at several places in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts.