Kochi: The family of Arjun Vidhyan, who was murdered by a gang that included his friends, on Friday said they have faith in police probe and that they aired disappointment only over the initial lapse in probe.
M.S. Vidhyan said he has faith in Panangad Station House Officer (SHO) that the investigation into the case would be carried out diligently.
“My only grievance was that the police had let off the accused believing their account though we expressed our serious doubt behind our son going missing,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Habeas Corpus petition filed by Vidhyan about the disappearance of his son was closed after the case came up before the High Court on Friday as it turned out that the youth was murdered and his body was recovered from a swamp near Nettoor.
“There was serious lapse on part of local police in the initial stage. We’d handed over the accused to police after we suspected their role behind his missing. But the cops let them out after believing their version. Finally, it turned out that the same persons were the murderers,” said C.P. Rathe-esh, Kumbalam councilor.
Arjun went missing on the night of July 2 after the accused called him over phone and asked him to meet them at Kumbalam-Nettoor Bridge, a deserted area. The next day, the gang acted as if they knew nothing. Police initially let them out after questioning but later arrested them when a further probe revealed they had murdered Arjun on that night itself. Police recovered the body in a decomposed state on July 10 based on information obtained from the accused.
“We’d handed over the accused but the police let them off. Only after we filed a habeas corpus did they investigate the case properly,” Ratheesh said.
His mother Sindhu said the main accused Nibin had stayed at their house the previous day. “He was very cordial with us and then we didn’t know he harboured the evil thought,” she said.
Panangad police arrested Nibin Judeson (20), Rony (23), Anandu (21) and Ajith Kumar (22) for the murder. “The four will be produced before a court later today. We’ll request their custody for further probe. The investigation is on the right track. We’re also probing whether anyone else, including a minor, have role in the episode,” a police official said.
