KOCHI: When the police started investigating the murder of 32-year-old Krishnakumar aka Kannan, of Cheranalloor, whose body was found on the banks of the Peeliyadu River, they were clueless about how to proceed. Local residents gave a hint of the role of a gang as they heard some 6-7 people engaging in an argument around 10.30 pm. They also noticed a few vehicles in the area.
But that was not enough for the police. However, they got a breakthrough when they interrogated Krishnakumar’s mother a few hours after the murder. Based on that, the police arrested the victim’s six friends, including a policeman, who was involved in the murder. Faisalmon, 39, of Nettoor; Ansal, 26, and Ubaid, 25, both of Muppathadam; Subeesh, 38, of Kunnumpuram; Faisal, 40, and policeman Bejoy, 35, both of Cheranalloor were arrested by the police.
“Despite gathering some information from the local residents, we were unable to identify the perpetrators of the murder. When we questioned Krishnakumar’s mother, we discovered that Faisal had called her up in the evening. Since he was her son’s close friend, she didn’t suspect him. But we felt something was wrong as the main accused made a call to his mother, and that too, just a few hours before the murder. These doubts helped us suspect Faisal. With the help of the cyber cell, we traced Faisal and started questioning him. He revealed all the details of the murder and the involvement of his other five friends,” said K Laljy, former assistant commissioner of Kochi City Police, who led the investigation.
The Kochi City police, headed by Commissioner C H Nagaraju, resolved the mystery within 20 hours of the crime. “Had we delayed taking the statement of the mother, the accused would have escaped. Fortunately, everything fell in place for us,” Laljy recalled.
The police said financial dispute resulted in the heinous murder. “Krishnakumar and the main accused Faisal had a dispute. Krishnakumar had been pestering Faisal for Rs 50,000 he had lent the latter after arranging it from one of his friends. Krishnakumar used to threaten Faisal over the phone to get the money back. Faisal and the others asked Krishnakumar to reach the Peeliyadu riverside to discuss the issue and this ended up in the murder,” he said.