THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : The state capital woke up to a second murder in 10 days, as a 40-year-old was beaten to death at Beemapally in the wee hours of Friday. This happened barely days after a notorious gangster was fatally hacked by an armed gang in Sreekaryam police station limit last week.
Shibili, a resident of Pathekkar in Beemapally, was beaten to death by two youngsters, who are siblings, after an altercation. The murder occurred on Beemapally beach and one of the accused, Enas, who is also a resident of the locality, was reportedly taken into custody. His brother Enad is said to be absconding.
The Poonthura police said Enas and Enad had previous enmity with Shibili, who was released from jail two weeks ago after being arrested in a criminal case. The brothers picked up a row with Shibili on Thursday evening. Following this, the two again crossed paths with Shibili by midnight following which there was a fight that culminated in the cold-blooded murder.
Shibili, according to the cops, had about 20 criminal cases against him. He was predominantly involved in theft and drug cases.
The accused had only petty cases against them. The police sources said Shibili’s body bore two injuries and several contusion marks. The sources said the local residents have mentioned about presence of a few more people in the area before the murder and the police are verifying this claim. Sources said they have come across such statements from the public and it’s yet to be learnt whether more people are involved in the crime.
The local sources, meanwhile, said the accused were into drug abuse and expressed doubts that the murder could have something to do with drug peddling. The police said they are exploring all the angles, but the lack of cooperation from the public has affected the pace of the probe.
“The people there are not ready to give more information. So, we are now checking the CCTV cameras to know what exactly transpired in the beach,” said an officer.
It was last week that Joy aka Vettukathi Joy, a habitual offender, was hacked to death by a gang at Powdikonam on Friday night. Five people were arrested in the case and it was revealed that the murder was committed to bump off Joy as he was posing threats to their lives.
The arrested, who were into soil mining, used to hire Joy as a lorry driver. However, they later fired him as he used to pick up fights with the people on slight provocation, which affected their business. However, Joy bore a grudge towards them and regularly attacked them, which prompted them to retaliate.