The CBI team probing the brutal murder of the RSS leader Manoj of Elanthottathil three months ago at Kathiroor near Thalassery in Kerala's Kannur district on Friday found the weapons used by the CPI(M) killer gang for the murder even as the police stepped up vigil in the district in the context of the upcoming anniversary of the martyrdom of Yuva Morcha leader KT Jayakrishnan.

The weapons — five swords and a stainless steel dagger — were found on the banks of a canal near Ukkasmotta at Kathiroor where the murder took place. The dagger is thought to have been used in the slitting of Manoj's throat. The weapons were found in a sack kept hidden on the banks of the canal.

Sources said that the seizure of the weapons, a major breakthrough achieved by the Central agency, might mark a turn in the investigation into the murder. The seizure was made on the basis of information provided by the accused during questioning. The weapons would be sent

for chemical examinations immediately.

The agency would also produce the weapons as exhibits in the court in Kochi. Manoj, Sharirik Shiksha Pramukh of the RSS in Kannur district, was murdered in a brutal daylight attack on September 1 by a CPI(M) killer gang at Ukkasmotta, Kathiroor falling near Thalassery which has seen several bloody clashes between the CPI(M) and the BJP-RSS.

The gang had hacked Manoj after creating a terror situation by hurling country-made bombs at the vehicle in which he was travelling. After the vehicle came to a stop, they dragged the RSS leader out and attacked him, ensuring his death by slitting his throat. Manoj's friend Pramod, who was travelling with him in the vehicle, had suffered serious injuries in the attack.

So far, 15 of the total 19 accused in the case have been arrested. A special investigation team of the Kerala Police's Crime Branch which probed the incident initially had arrested seven persons including the first accused, Vikraman. The CBI, which took over the probe practically on November 5, arrested eight. All the accused in the case are CPI(M) leaders and workers.

Meanwhile, the police have stepped up vigil across the Thalassery area of Kannur, known as Kerala's Marxist heartland where hundreds of people have died in the past four decades in incidents of political violence, in the context of reports about a possible outbreak of violence in connection with the 15th anniversary of the martyrdom of Yuva Morcha leader KT Jayakrishnan.

Jayakrishnan, a school teacher and State Yuva Morcha vice-president, was brutally hacked to death on December 1, 1999 by a Marxist killer gang in front of his Class VI students while he was teaching Mathematics to them in a classroom at the East Mokeri UP School in Panur near Thalassery.

Sources in the police said that indications of a possible escalation in violence were already visible in the Thalassery area. "Several incidents of clashes, including bomb attacks, between activists CPI(M) and BJP-RSS had been reported in the past two weeks. We are taking no chances and have deployed personnel at all vulnerable points," said a police official.

Thursday night had witnessed a bomb attack on some BJP workers who were engaged in the distribution of some pamphlets in Pinarayi village in Thalassery. local BJP leaders accused the Marxists of carrying out the attack as they were peeved at the recent incidents of CPI(M) cadres joining Sangh Pariwar outfits.

The Koothuparambu area of the district had remained turbulent for the past one month with incidents of bomb attacks and burning of vehicles and a minimum of 200 vehicles could have been set ablaze in the area during this period, reports said. Places like Panur and Poyilur were under special observation, said police sources.