KOZHIKODE: A couple hired a five-member goonda gang to finish off a textile shop owner who, they thought, had helped his wife’s cousin marry their daughter when she was an MBBS student.
The Chevayur police arrested all seven persons for attacking Rineesh Kayyalathodi, 43, including the girl’s parents, Anirudhan Palora and wife Ajitha. Rineesh was attacked on December 11 night. The attack took place near his house when Rineesh was retuning home on a scooter from his textile shop in Kovoor.
Two people stopped the scooter and asked whether he was Rineesh. They also asked if he had any connection with the Palora family and they hit him with an iron rod, causing him head injuries. His life could be saved only because it happened near his house and his relatives took him to the hospital immediately.
The goons were sent by Anirudhan, whose daughter Jennet married Swaroop, the cousin of Rineesh’s wife. The police confirmed that the attack was to take revenge for causing dishonour to the family. “Jennet’s parents gave Rs 2.5 lakh to the goonda team to attack Rineesh. We have collected their bank details, which are strong proof against them. The couple was not happy with the economic background of Swaroop.
And they allege that Rineesh helped Swaroop and Jennet in their marriage. They had arranged another goonda team from Alappuzha earlier to attack Rineesh. They had also hired another goonda team to attack Swaroop’s brother but it was cancelled due to an argument over the money. The couple had been hiding in Pollachi and Perinthalmanna after the December 11 attack,” said Chevayur SHO Chandramohan P.
“An eight-member goonda gang had gone to Rineesh’s shop and threatened him for supporting the relationship between Swaroop and Anirudh’s daughter in 2018. The marriage had taken place a year and a half ago. The problems were still not over. Since 2017, there had been several cases registered at the Elathur police station between our family and the family of Swaroop’s wife. Anirudh had threatened our father and us many times. Initially, Swaroop and Jennet didn’t disclose their marriage to anyone,” said Sajin Kumar, Swaroop’s brother.
Swaroop works in Singapore and Jennet went to Singapore recently after completing her house surgency, which added fuel to their resentment against Swaroop’s family and relatives. The couple and gang members Subhash Benny, 38, Arun S, 27, Ashwanth Kandankayil, 22, Balu Pranav, 28, and Avinash Kaniyeri Meethal, 21, were arrested by the investigation team led by Medical College Assistant Commissioner K Sudersan.