KOCHI: The stalker who shot a dental student of the Indira Gandhi College in Nellikuzhi last week had received training to use a pistol in Bihar, the police have said. The investigators recovered a video in which one of the two arrested Bihar natives is showing the stalker, Rakhil, how to use the weapon.
The five-member investigation team brought Sonu Kumar, 21, a resident of Munger district, a hub of illegal gun-making, and Maneesh Kumar Varma, 23, a resident of Buxar, to the office of the Ernakulam Rural SP at Aluva by 6.30pm on Sunday. A preliminary interrogation of the accused was conducted in the presence of the Rural SP K Karthick. The Bihar natives were arrested last week with the help of the Bihar police.
“A detailed inquiry will be initiated into the training incident. An investigation is already on into the background of the duo and their Kerala links. We are also looking into whether the accused were involved in similar cases earlier,” Karthick said.He said the accused will be produced before the court on Monday and the police will move an application seeking their custody for a detailed interrogation.
The police have recovered crucial videos of the gun-training session and the Bihar duo travelling with Rakhil in a car from the mobile phones of the accused.Several mobile phone numbers of people from Kerala were also found from their devices. The police have begun an investigation in that direction too. Maneesh was the agent who connected Rakhil to Sonu. Later, Sonu arranged the country-made pistol for Rakhil. According to the police, Rakhil bought the gun for Rs 35,000.
It was on July 30 that 32-year-old Rakhil, a Kannur resident, shot 24-year-old Manasa P V, a fourth-year student pursuing dentistry, in a house at Nellikuzhi after she allegedly declined his proposal. A ballistic examination of the pistol had found it was a country-made 7.62mm pistol.