THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A pastor was hacked to death by his brother-in-law on the premises of his residence at Vellarada here on Monday. The deceased is Thomas, 50, a resident of Vellarada. The accused have been identified as Krishnan, 65, and his son Rajendran, 35. According to the Vellarada police, the arrests are yet to be recorded.
“Though Krishnan has been taken into custody, Rajendran is on the run. However, the formal arrest will be recorded soon”, said J Mohan Das, Circle Inspector, Vellarada.
Explaining the incident, Das said that Krishnan and Thomas were close relatives and had not been in good terms for quite some time over some boundary disputes. “Thomas was residing on the backside of Krishnan’s house and hence the former had to walk to his house through the latter’s premise. There were some scuffles, fake allegations in the past. We had taken up the responsibility to settle the issue many times. However, the issue turned violent on Monday when Thomas and his family began to start construction of a road on their own. Suddenly, Krishnan and family arrived at the spot and entered into an argument. Apparently, Krishnan and Rajendran took a machete and waved at Thomas and his family. Thomas was deeply injured and his wife and daughter suffered minor injuries. Though Thomas was taken to hospital, he was declared ‘brought dead’ by the hospital authorities. Rajendran escaped from the scene immediately after the incident. However, Krishnan has been taken into custody”, Das added.
The body of Thomas has now been kept at the mortuary.
