ALAPPUZHA: In a gruesome incident, a man was found murdered and stacked inside the freezer of a toddy shop at Thakazhi on Friday.
The deceased has been identified as Ramachandran, 64, of Valiyaparambil, Mithrakary, Kuttanad. He was an employee of the toddy shop where his body was found. Police suspect that Akashdeep,26, a migrant labourer from Assam employed at the toddy shop was behind the murder.
Akashdeep Tayi, who had been working in the shop for the past 15 days, has been absconding after the incident. Police suspect that the killer absconded after taking Rs 2,000 from Ramachandran’s pocket. `400 kept in the cash box of the shop was also missing.
The murder came to light when owner Shiji Cherian came to the shop situated at Kelamangalam on Friday morning. The two employees who used to stay inside the shop at night didn’t respond to his call to open the shop. The shop owner then enquired with the local people but they were also clueless. Following this he entered the shop through the backdoor.
“I didn’t see anybody inside the shop. I called them loud but there was no response. Following this, I searched the shop and also checked the defunct freezer kept inside the shop. I saw the body of Ramachandran stacked inside the freezer with his legs folded,” Shiji Cherian said. According to Mannar circle inspector R Binu, Ramachandran had been working in the toddy shop for the past five years.