The source of the anonymous letter allegedly threatening to kill the suspects in the Shahabaz murder case remains unknown even as a police investigation is in full swing. The content of the handwritten letter reportedly received by the Thamarassery Government Vocational Higher Secondary School authorities on March 7 has been kept confidential as part of efforts to zero in on the suspects.

Police sources said the letter carrying a death threat was sent soon after the Education department announced its decision to permit six suspected students in the murder case to write the SSLC examinations. According to them, the main threat was that the murder suspects would be eliminated before the completion of the examinations.

The faded postal seal on the letter continued to pose a challenge for the police in tracking the post office from where it was posted. The police reportedly initiated measures to identify the handwriting with the support of some teachers and students from Muhammedali Jauhar Higher Secondary School at Elettil, where Mohammad Shahabaz was a Class X student.

The investigation into the murder case is progressing under the leadership of Thamarassery Deputy Superintendent of Police P.K. Sushir and Circle Inspector A. Sayooj Kumar. For a week, the squad has been trying to identify all those allegedly involved in the online conspiracy to endanger Shahabaz. The police confirmed that a few more suspects would be taken into custody for interrogation the following week.

“We have already approached Meta to gather details of social media accounts handled by the six nabbed students and to retrieve deleted communications. Though it is time-consuming, we will surely get some fresh leads from the data,” said a senior police officer associated with the ongoing investigation. He added that the seized mobile phones and a laptop were being examined by a cyber forensic squad.

Meanwhile, the parents of Shahabaz moved the Kerala High Court, seeking its intervention to bar the six suspected students from writing the remaining SSLC examinations. They also alleged that the Education department’s decision was setting a wrong precedent.

It was on March 1 that Mohammed Shahabaz, a Class X student from Muhammedali Jauhar Higher Secondary School, succumbed to a fatal head injury reportedly sustained during a street scuffle with students of the Thamarassery Government Vocational Higher Secondary School on February 27.

The root of the clash was allegedly a ruckus over stopping the music during a farewell party at a tuition centre attended by students from Muhammedali Jauhar Higher Secondary School and Government Vocational Higher Secondary School on February 23. Six students were arrested in connection with the incident.