Advocate K Haridas who was arrested in connection with the Harihara Varma murder case on Sunday, was produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody till January 19.
According to police, the role of Haridas, who acted as a middleman in the sale of ‘precious’ stones, came to light with the arrest and subsequent quizzing of the five accused who directly took part in the murder.
Haridas was under the police scanner from the beginning as he had deliberately delayed informing the police of the smothering episode which resulted in Varma’s death.
Haridas was aware of the plans of the five-member gang. But he did not reveal this to the police during earlier interrogation.
The special police team led by ACP K E Baiju revealed that it was Haridas who introduced Varma to the stone buyers as a royal family member. He also claimed that Varma was the legal advisor of a private hospital.
Haridas was aware of the fact that the stones were cheap and he was not a member of royal family but decided to keep it as a secret. He also had told the five-member gang that he will make Varma sell the stones to them at a cheaper rate and that 50 percent of the riches should be given to him as commission.
When the gang members told Haridas of their plan to smother Varma with chloroform, he told them to deposit the amount in his bank account.
Haridas confessed to the crime when he was quizzed in the presence of the five accused, the investigators said.
A police team led by Assistant Commissioner of Police K E Baiju arrested Haridas on Sunday. Police are also probing into the involvement of Haridas’s son Harish Kumar in the crime.