BENGALURU: The operation to eliminate RSS leader Rudresh was named ‘Murghi Cut’, the five arrested accused have revealed to the police. All of them were trained in hacking a person to death with a single cut, and had planned the murder for 2-3 months.

The accused, who allegedly had close links with the Popular Front of India (PFI) and Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), were reportedly using the code word ‘murghi cut’ whenever they discussed and planned the murder. “It is similar to chopping off a chicken’s head and that’s why they had named it Operation Murghi Cut and were using it as the codeword,” an official said. Probe revealed that the accused were trained in Kerala.

“In the dense forests of Wayanad and Malappuram, camps are held by radical groups where members are trained to go on bikes and kill dogs in one shot. They kill 7-8 dogs in a row as part of their training. The accused in Rudresh’s murder case had also undergone similar training in Kerala,” the official said.

The arrested are: Asim Sharief of the Popular Front of India (PFI), Mohammed Sadiq alias Mohammed Mazar, 35, a resident of J.C. Nagar, who owns a mechanic shop in Shivajinagar, Mohammed Mujeebullah alias Moula alias Mujeeb, 44, a resident of R. T. Nagar, Waseem Ahmed, 30, of Austin Town, and Irfan Pasha, 30, of Govindapura near K. G. Halli on October 27.

It is revealed that Rudresh’s murder was plotted at accused Mujeeb’s office near a mosque in R.T. Nagar. “Asim, who used to head the meetings, told his associates that right wing groups were creating trouble and were acting against minorities. He also instigated the associates to murder some right wing activists to send out a strong message. As Mazar had some problems with Rudresh from the past, he suggested that the RSS leader should be bumped off. They had planned the murder for 2-3 months,” the official said.

It is learnt that the accused had tried to kill Rudresh twice earlier, before succeeding on October 16. “Their attempts failed for one or the other reason. Finally, they decided to kill him on the day RSS held its Path Sanchalan on October 16. Asim was at home when the murder took place and the four went to his shop in Benson Town to collect some money after the murder,” the official said. The police strongly suspect that a few others are also involved in the murder, and the number of arrests will go up. “We are also trying to find out whether there was any political motive behind the murder,” he said.