MALAPPURAM: In what is suspected to be a retaliation, the second accused in a communally sensitive murder case has been killed. The body of Bipin, aged 26, accused in the Kodinhi Faisal murder case, was found by the roadside at Pulinchod near Tirur by 8 am on Thursday. Police said he was on the way to work. His body was shifted to Tirur district hospital, where it is kept for postmortem.
Faisal, who converted to Islam, was murdered by RSS activists in the wee hours of November 19, 2016, at Farook Nagar in Kodinhi, a day before he was scheduled to fly back to Saudi Arabia, where he was working as a driver.
Following his murder, nine members of his family including his mother and sisters had also converted to Islam.
One of the 16 accused in the Faisal murder case, Bipin was granted conditional bail by the District and Sessions Court in Manjeri in April. The court had also granted bail to prime accused in the case RSS Tirur Taluk Saha Karyavahak Madathil Narayanan (47) and VHP Tirurangadi Taluk secretary Kottashery Jayakumar (48) on two surety bonds of Rs 1 lakh each. The trio was also asked to submit the title deed of the security. The court has also asked the accused to appear before the investigation officers every week for two months. They also needed special permission from the district police chief to travel outside the district during the period.
Following the incident, huge police force has been deployed at the spot in order to avert any kind of untoward activities. Police have taken none into custody.
On August 2, another accused of Faisal murder case Thayyil Lijeesh had filed a complaint with Parappanangadi police alleging attempts to murder him. Lijeesh, aged 27, was injured when an Innova car hit his motorbike at Alinchuvadu near Parappanangadi. Lijeesh lodged a complaint with Parappanangadi police alleging that the accident was a deliberate attempt to kill him.
The Police had arrested 16 accused in the Faisal murder case including Faisal’s brother in law Pullani Vinod. All the accused are out on bail.