Walayar Mob Lynching: Another BJP Activist Arrested

Walayar: In the case of the mob assault at Attappallam, Walayar, in which Ramnarayan Bhayyal, a resident of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, was killed, the Special Investigation Team has arrested another BJP activist. Shaji (38) from East Attappallam, an active RSS- BJP worker, was taken into custody after being in hiding since the incident. With this arrest, the total number of people apprehended in connection with the case has risen to eight.

Bhayyal had reportedly come to the area searching for his sister when the perpetrators reacted violently, accusing him of being an illegal immigrant from Bangladesh and brutally assaulting him. Although the attackers understood what Bhayyal was saying, as they spoke Hindi, they continued the assault. A video of the incident circulated widely on social media. A postmortem conducted by police surgeon Dr. Hitesh Shankar confirmed that Bhayyal had suffered multiple injuries over his body. The attack occurred on Wednesday evening around six o’clock, and Bhayyal succumbed to his injuries that night.

Earlier arrests in the case included Ananthan, Vinodkumar, Jagadishkumar, and BJP activists E Anu, C Prasad, C Murali, and K Bibin. The investigation revealed that Shaji had also participated in the assault on Bhayyal. Notably, Murali and Anu were previously accused 15 years ago in an attack on CITU worker Stefan and DYFI worker Vinod in Attappallam. When they appeared in court at the time, BJP activists were present to support them. Another member of the group, R. Jinish, an RSS worker, is accused in the murder of SDPI activist Subair.

However, the media has noted that no clear RSS affiliation or communal-political motive has yet been established regarding the perpetrators. Crime Branch DYSP M. Gopakumar stated that further arrests are expected in the coming days.