Murder accused arrested after 7 years
The Crime Branch arrested a murder case accused seven years after the alleged crime, on Thursday.
B. Ashokan, 51, of Neyyantinkara, who used to run an advertisement agency at Perumbavoor, was accused in the murder of Pramod, 31, of Udumbunchola in Idukki, at Perumbavoor where he was working.
He was hiding in Kozhikode town after realising that the police had zeroed in on him as an accused. The police said he had murdered the victim by hacking him on the head with a machete and then stabbing him in the stomach using a knife.
The accused got acquainted with a family at Mudikkal near Perumbavoor where he was working on a flex board. He had invited a girl from the family to work in his firm. But she turned down the offer. The accused was under the impression that the girlโs decision was on Pramodโs advice. This coupled with the fact that the victim had far greater social acceptance despite being from a scheduled caste community riled him, leading to his murder, the police said.
The accused has six cases, including attempts to murder, in Thiruvananthapuram, Thodupuzha, and Kozhikode. One case was for allegedly attempting to murder a bus conductor at the Thiruvananthapuram KSRTC depot, another for assaulting a nurse at the Neyyanttinkara government hospital, and yet another case for attempting to murder a man in Kozhikode.
A tip-off received by Ernakulam Crime Branch Superintendent of Police Tomy Sebastian led to the arrest.
A special investigation team led by DySP Y.R. Rustom, Inspector Rajeev Kumar U., Sub Inspector Binulal, Assistant Sub Inspectors Rajeev, Jaleel, and Benoy made the arrest in Kozhikode in the early hours of Thursday. He was produced in court and remanded.
The police will seek his custody for further probe.