The investigation into the murder of Hindu Munnani functionary C Sasikumar in Coimbatore has been handed over to the Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Division (CB-CID). The Director General of Police (DGP) T K Rajendran has ordered the probe.

Earlier, hundreds of persons have been questioned in the case, with six special investigating teams put on board.

When it did not make any headway, the number of special teams was increased to eight on Monday.

C Sasikumar (36) of Subramaniyampalayam in Coimbatore district, was returning home on a two-wheeler, when an unidentified four-member gang chased and attacked him with sickles on the night of September 22. As per reports, he suffered 11 cut injuries on his body. Sasikumar was rushed to a private hospital, but he could not be saved.

The incident led to widespread violence and arson in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts. Government buses were pelted with stones and petrol bombs hurled, causing loss of property to the tune of Rs 26 lakh. Leader of political parties too jumped in with various statements to gain mileage through the communal dispute.

The police detained nearly 800 persons and questioned 500 of them in the case, with.

BJP national secretary H Raja on Tuesday urged the government to hand over the probe to the CBI, after the Tamilnadu police failed to nab the accused. Hindu Munnani state secretary J S Kishore Kumar has claimed that religious extremists were behind the murder. He also said that this was evidenced with the recent arrest of an IS sympathiser in Tirupur.