THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A 55-year-old small-time trader was hacked to death by three unidentified persons on a public road at Amachal Junction, near Kattakkada in the capital district, on Sunday night. The deceased has been identified as Chandran, a resident of Chandramangalam, Amachal. The Kattakkada police have registered a case of murder in connection with the incident.
According to the police, the incident occurred around 10.45 pm on Sunday when Chandran was returning home after shutting his pan shop located at Amachal Junction. While he was on his way home, three persons arrived at the spot on a motorcycle, one of whom got down from the bike and kicked him down.
The other two persons hacked Chandran on his right arm and one of the legs and fled from the scene. Following this, Chandran, who suffered serious injuries, managed to alert the local people, who informed 108 ambulance and the police. Though he was rushed to Medical College Hospital (MCH), he succumbed to injuries around 9.45 am on Monday. The body has been shifted to the morgue of MCH and will be handed over to relatives after post-mortem.
Mystery looms large
When contacted, the investigating officer of the case, Kattakkada CI R Baiju Kumar, admitted that mystery surrounded the case as the victim was not having any enmity with anyone.
“Chandran was a low-profile pan shop owner and he neither had enemies nor was he involved in any sort of arguments or scuffles recently. We firmly believe that the accused had hacked him on mistaken identity. He was attacked brutally and one of the legs was found to be severed. Some details about the accused were revealed to the local people by the victim before he lost consciousness. A probe has been initiated and we are trying our best to trace the culprits,” said Kumar.
The police also said that they were examining the possibility of political murder as Chandran had switched sides to the Congress from the CPM during the recent local self-government elections. The police arrived at this conclusion as the local people suspected political revenge. Chandran is survived by wife Girija and a daughter Sani.
Murder most foul