MUNNAR: A tribal youth was shot dead by a gang of hunters at a private cardamon estate at Pothamedu in Devikulam taluk of Idukki district. The incident happened on June 27. The police exhumed the body of the victim, Mahendran, 24, of Irpuathekkar tribal colony on Saturday after interrogating the suspects. The accused had buried the body at the spot to hush up the murder.
The Rajakkad police had launched an investigation after the relatives of Mahendran filed a missing complaint. The accused, Samji and Jomi of Irupathekkar in Kunchithanni and Muthayya of Pothamedu were detained by Rajakkad police on Saturday. They admitted to the crime.
The Rajakkad police had collected the CCTV visuals of Samji, Jomi and Mahendran travelling in an autoriskshaw on June 27. The body was exhumed by the police on Saturday and sent for postmortem examination. The report is awaited for further investigation.
The accused confessed to the police that they had gone to the estate for hunting on June 27 evening. They failed to notice Mahendran who was roaming around the estate. Meanwhile, they found something shining among the bushes and pulled the trigger, mistaking it for the eyes of a wild animal. Hearing the screams of Mahendran they rushed to the spot and realised that it was the buttons of the youth’s shirt.