Thiruvananthapuram police yet to nab accomplice in Kanjiramkulam murder

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a major twist, the city police has identified a man named Arogyadas for aiding a newspaper agent to murder his own brother.

The alleged murder of one Shaji, 35, by his elder brother Satheesh, 37, had made headlines after his body was fished out from the sea at Pulluvila.

The city police who managed to get custody of Satheesh earlier this week extracted his confession, according to which he rented a car belonging to a Superintendent of Police to move the dead body.

Satheesh had earlier claimed that he had killed the hefty man on his own and had taken the body in a scooter to Vizhinjam and dumped it into the sea at Kurisadi near Vizhinjam.

However, now, the suspect has confessed that the murder actually happened at a hotel in Kovalam with external help. Satheesh had invited Shaji to the hotel room on the pretext of sorting out rivalry between them. Arogyadas of Vizhinjam, a mutual friend, got Shaji drunk.

Following an argument, Shaji was bashed up and strangled using a rope by the duo and his mouth was covered with a towel. After the murder, the body was taken in a red hatchback car and was dumped into the sea.

When the body surfaced at Pulluvila, Satheesh had played an active role in bringing it ashore. However, he had made attempts to prevent their father Ratnaswami from viewing and identifying the body.

After this, police zeroed in on Satheesh but Arogyadas has absconded and the police has launched a manhunt to find him. The case was earlier transferred to the city police from Kanjiramkulam under rural station limits.