Deputy Inspector General (Kolhan) Ramlakhan Prasad on Monday put all speculation to rest about the invovlement of political party leaders in the killing of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha member of Parliament Sunil Mahato and said the investigating agencies were close to cracking the case.

Claiming that the case was the handiwork of the Maoists, he said it was likely to be cracked soon.

To a query about any arrest made in this connection as yet, Prasad said a district police team and paramilitary forces were conducting raids and expecting arrest any time.

"We have identified the killers as well as their sympathisers," Prasad replied when asked about the killers, Rahul and Jayanti, who fired on the Jamshedpur MP at an exhibition football match venue at Baguria in Naxal-affected Ghatsila sub-division on Holi.

Police investigation has established the Maoists' involvement in the incident, but the police did not want to jump to conclusion, he said adding, that any further disclosure of names at this juncture may hamper the investigation.

The DIG said the ultra outfit had targetted Mahato as he had apparently becoming a threat to their movements by appealing to the villagers to co-operate in the anti-Naxal movement launched by the government.

Appreciating the co-operation of the villagers in the investigation, he said the district police and state agencies including CID, were working as a team to unearth the truth.