KOCHI: The police on Sunday recorded the arrest of two more people in connection with the murder of Sumesh of Manjapra. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday took Soni, 36, of Kilukkal House and Siby, 46, of Eralil House, both at Manjapra, into custody and had been subjected to a detailed interrogation.
They are the second and third accused in the case, police said. Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick said all accused have been arrested in connection with the murder. Three were arrested earlier in the case.
Sumesh was found dead in front of a shop at Manjapra market on August 20 night. Local residents suspected it was a case of accident.
However, the murder angle became clear when the police checked the call history of the victim’s mobile phone recovered from the scene. It was found that a five-member gang had called Sumesh for playing cards that night. Following a brawl, Saju, first accused in the case, pushed down Sumesh who suffered a severe head injury.
The gang then carried the unconscious Sumesh and abandoned him near a shop at Manjapra market. However, Sumesh later succumbed to the injuries. The police said the cause of death was an injury he sustained on the back of the head. A dispute during playing cards led to the scuffle. The accused went into hiding after the incident, but Saju, 42, was arrested following a manhunt by the Kalady police on Wednesday. .
Then, Rural district police chief K Karthick constituted a special team to nab the absconding accused.
Subsequently, a scientific investigation led to the arrest of all accused. DySP E P Reji, Inspector B Santosh, Sub-Inspectors P V Devasi and T A Davis, ASIs Abdul Sathar and Joshi Thomas and M P Shiju and special CPO Anil Kumar were the members of the SIT.