Alappuzha | Four people have been arrested so far in connection with the alleged threats made against the Mavelikkara Additional Sessions Judge on various social media platforms after the verdict was pronounced in the murder of BJP OBC wing leader Ranjith Sreenivasan, police said on Thursday.

Security was heightened for Mavelikkara Additional Sessions Judge-I V G Sreedevi, after taking serious note of the online threats made against her.

In a release, Alappuzha District police chief said a total of five cases have been registered and the accused in four cases were arrested.

"Four cases were registered at Alappuzha South police station and one at Punnapra police station and a special team was appointed to probe the matter," it said.

Police said Mannacherry resident, Naseermon (47), Mangalapuram resident, Rafi (38), Alappuzha resident Navas Naina (42) and Ambalappuzha resident Shajahan (36) were arrested.

The court had on Tuesday sentenced 15 people associated with the now-banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) to death in connection with the 2021 murder of the BJP OBC wing leader that took place in Alappuzha district.

Soon after, posts on social media platforms verbally insulting the judge cropped up and were circulated by various accounts.

Sreenivasan, a lawyer and the BJP OBC Morcha state secretary, was brutally attacked and killed in his home on December 19, 2021, in front of his family, by activists affiliated with PFI and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI).