THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Barely hours after a 34-year-old hotel receptionist was hacked to death in broad daylight at the hotel where he was working at Thampanoor, the police managed to crack the case by arresting the assailant from Nedumangadu.
The police identified the suspect as Kalliyodu resident Ajeesh. He was picked up from near Nedumangadu where he was resting after committing the murder. The police claimed to have recovered the machete used for the murder and added that Hareesh had criminal antecedents. The motive behind the murder is yet to be known, the police added.
Ayyappan, a native of Nagercoil in Tamil Nadu who worked in the hotel city tower, was fatally assaulted by a man on Friday morning. The police said the murder occurred at 8.30 am. The CCTV visuals collected from the hotel showed the assailant, who came on a bike. The man, who came without a mask was seen rushing to the hotel with a bag, on one hand, a machete on the other. The gruesome murder was also caught on camera. The assailant first attacked the victim, who was seated in his chair, on his hand. Then the assailant caught the victim by his head and hacked him on his neck till he collapsed on the table. The whole action just took less than 30 seconds.
The local sources said since it was morning, the receptionist and a cleaning staff were only present when the attack occurred. The cleaning staff had gone to the rear side of the hotel to dump waste when the murder occurred.