Deputy Superintendent of Kerala Police R. Shaji was arrested yesterday in connection with a murder case.

Ettumanoor Mevakkattu Praveen, employed by Shaji to run his private bus service, was murdered recently.

Police also arrested yesterday Binu, a close associate of Shaji who is also suspected to have played a key role in the murder and subsequent severing and disposal of the body of Praveen.

The police recorded another major breakthrough in the case yesterday when the severed head of Praveen surfaced in the Kochi lake near the Naval Base wrapped inside a plastic bag.

The severed arms, legs and torso of Praveen had earlier been recovered from near the Cheepunkal bridge and the eastern side of the Thanneermukkam Bund (embankment).

The accused have reportedly admitted to the police that the arms, legs and body of Praveen had been dumped under the 17th shutter of the Thanneermukkam Bund.

Praveen's father Pavitran, brother Pradeep and uncle Raju had identified the legs and arms as that of Praveen.

Public attention

The case has attracted wide public attention in the state both because of the manner in which the culprits disposed of Praveen's body parts and also because of the suspected involvement of a top police officer in the murder.

The police are also understood to have interrogated the staff of the four private buses run by Shaji under the name of his third wife.

Praveen, who had been a close confidante of Shaji and the virtual righthand man of the police officer in running his private bus operation, is suspected to have earned the wrath of the police officer because of his closeness to the officer's wife.

The accused have been taken by police to various places including Kumarakom, Thanneermukkam, Palluruthy and Ernakulam in an attempt to unearth finer details of their modus operandi.

Praveen was murdered on the night of February 15 and the murderers are suspected of cutting up his body into pieces and disposing of them the same night.

Shaji was last posted to Malappuram as deputy superintendent (administration) and it is believed that his suspicion about Praveen having an illicit relationship with his wife increased following his posting away from home.

The personal vendetta is considered to have resulted in the killing of Praveen.