KOCHI: Two weeks after a 40-year-old man’s body was found near a canal in Tripunithura, the police on Thursday confirmed that it was a murder. The accused has been arrested. Initially, the police suspected that Manoj, a native of Tripunithura, died following a cardiac arrest after his body was found on August 6. However, a histopathology diagnosis — a study of diseases of the tissues — carried out by Police Surgeon Dr Umesh, established that the death was caused by an injury to the neck.
The police probe revealed that Manoj had a scuffle with a few youths at an eatery just before his death, and that Vishnu T Asokan, 26, a resident of Irumpanam, pierced his neck with a motorcycle key.“Manoj, who was under the influence of alcohol, sat on Vishnu’s motorcycle without his permission. He also used abusive language regarding the latter’s fiancee. That resulted in an altercation between them and Vishnu stab him using the key of his motorcycle. Since we couldn’t find any other bruise on his body, we suspected his death was caused by cardiac arrest,” said P V Baby, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara.
He said the police, even after the autopsy, could not find any hint of a murder. “However, we decided to conduct a histopathological study and also to send his internal organs to a regional chemical laboratory,” Baby said. According to the findings, Manoj died because of suffocation following injuries to his trachea.
“From CCTV footage, we also found that Manoj was running nude on the road minutes after the scuffle. He might have lost his breath and that may have resulted in such an act. Though Vishnu and his friends searched for him in the area, they couldn’t find him. It is clear from the evidence that the murder was not a pre-planned one. It happened accidentally,” said another police officer with the Hill Palace police station where the case was registered.The police arrested Vishnu from his house on Wednesday and charged him under IPC Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder,)