KOTTAYAM: Adding a feather in the cap of Kerala Police, the accused behind the brutal murder of a 60-year-old woman at Parappadam near Kottayam was arrested by the investigation team on Wednesday night. The arrested has been identified as Muhammed Bilal, 23, of Chittayil house, Thazhathangady, near Kottayam. It was on Monday evening that M A Abdul Sali, 65, and wife Sheeba, 60, of Shani Manzil, Parappadam, were found seriously injured at their house. While Sheeba died on the way to hospital, Sali is battling for life at the critical care unit at the Government Medical College Hospital.
Bilal was taken into custody from Ernakulam late in the evening on Wednesday and the police recorded his arrest in the early hours of Thursday. According to police, the accused was familiar to the victims as his family had stayed for a short period in a house behind the victim’s house. The motive behind the crime was financial gain, said Kottayam district police chief G Jaidev.
He added that Bilal fled from the spot with the victims’ car and some money and gold after committing the crime and was staying at a house in Edappally in Ernakulam. Police team collected evidence from this house along with the accused. Of the 55 sovereigns of the stolen gold, 28 sovereigns were recovered from this house.
“Accused arrived at Thazhathangadi early morning on Monday with an intention of robbery. Since the family was very much familiar to the accused, the couple opened doors when he arrived at the house. The accused first attacked Sali and then his wife Sheeba. He hit the victims on their head several times with wooden furniture with an intention to kill them. Though, he attempted to electrocute the victims, it didn’t work out. To destroy evidence, he also left open an LPG cylinder in the room,” Jaidev said.Bilal is a person with criminal antecedents.
Stolen car found in Alappuzha
Alappuzha: The car stolen by the Thazhathangady murder case accused was found abandoned in Alappuzha on Thursday. According to police sources, the car was found parked near the Government Muhammadan Girls School in Alappuzha town. The accused was taken to the spot for evidence collection by Thursday noon. It is learnt that the accused informed the officials about the car during interrogation.
