KOTTAYAM: With the person who had suffered a head injury in the firing over the sale of a family property in Kanjirappally also dying, the toll in Monday’s incident rose to two. Mathew Scaria, aka Raju, 75, of Koottikkal, who was admitted to Government Medical College Hospital in Kottayam, died early morning on Tuesday.
It was on Monday evening that George Kurian of Karimpanal house at Mannarakkayam near Kanjirappally shot at his younger brother Ranju Kurian, 50, and their maternal uncle Mathew Scaria during conciliatory talks on a dispute over the sale of family property. Ranju, who sustained a bullet injury in the head, died on the spot.
As per the police report, the brothers’ father, K V Kurian, had sold around two-and-a-half acres of land to settle the debts of Ranju around two years ago. Later, K V Kurian handed over two-and-a-half acres of land to George and he was trying to sell it to settle his debts. However, Ranju opposed the plan which led to a dispute between them. George has a cumulative debt of around Rs 8 crore.
On Monday, when talks were progressing to settle the issues amicably, George took his revolver out and fired at Ranju and Mathew, the police said. Meanwhile, George, during interrogation, said he fired for his safety as goons brought by Ranju had tried to attack him. Following this, the police have started collecting the details of the people present during the discussion.
A scientific team, and fingerprint and forensic experts arrived at the house the spot on Tuesday and collected evidence. George was produced before the court and remanded. The police have registered a case and launched an inquiry into the incident.Senior police officers including Kottayam district police superintendent Shilpa Devaiah and others visited the spot.