KOCHI: A woman sustained serious injuries after being attacked by three masked men at Vallarpadam on Sunday night. The victim Vinny is the wife of Paul Peter, who runs a shrimp farm at Panambukad near Vallarpadam.
According to police, the incident occurred around 11pm. Before leaving from the farm, Paul had briefly gone to a nearby farm to hand over some products. At that time, Vinny, who was standing near their vehicle waiting for her husband, was approached by three masked individuals.
“Seeing the men, Vinny attempted to take their pictures on her mobile phone. However, the assailants attacked her with iron rods. Hearing her screams, Paul rushed to the scene. But the attackers managed to flee by then,” a police officer said.
Vinny was immediately taken to a private hospital in Kochi, where she received 11 stitches for a head wound and was diagnosed with fractures in her arms. “We have registered a case against three unidentified individuals and are making all efforts to track them down. Initial inquiries suggest that Paul was not on good terms with some residents of a nearby colony,” the officer said.
Police revealed that Paul operated the shrimp farm on a leased property. Earlier, local residents were allowed to fish thereafter each harvest. However, since Paul took over the farm, he prohibited them from fishing post-harvest, leading to tensions. Additionally, a dispute rose regarding an acre of land Paul had leased. For security reasons, he installed CCTV cameras on the farm, which allegedly aggravated the neighbours.
“We have yet to confirm whether any local residents were involved in the attack. Paul and Vinny suspect that hired goons were responsible,” an officer from Mulavukad police station said.