THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fort police have arrested the main accused in the murder of Syam, a native of Punnapuram, at Sreevaraham in the city on Thursday night.
The police said the accused Arjun, a native of Sreevaraham, was arrested from Thampanoor. Thirty-year-old Syam alias Manikkuttan was fatally stabbed by Arjun using a broken alcohol bottle when the former tried to pacify two rival gangs who got into a scuffle near Sreevaraham.
While Syam died in the attack, two of his friends suffered serious injuries.
Though Fort police managed to catch two of Arjun's accomplices on that fateful day itself, Arjun escaped successfully.
Fort police said the two groups that had a pitched street battle at Sreevaraham were drug addicts. "The murder was not premeditated. It just happened at the spur of the moment. The accused were under the influence of the drug," a police source said.
Syam's murder came as a body blow to the police who were already under fire after a 21-year-old youth was kidnapped and murdered by rival groups at Karamana a few days back. Both the murders prompted the police to come out with a special drive to curb drug-peddling gangs in the city.