Murder of Kerala expat: Five held, key accused at large
MALAPPURAM: The special police team which is investigating the murder of expat, Abdul Jaleel, on Saturday arrested five people in connection with the case. The arrested are Althaf, 31, of Kozhikkattil, Akaparamba, Rafeeque Muhammed Mustafa alias Muthu, 34, of Cholakkal, Akaparamba, Muhammed Abdul Ali, 40, alias Alimon, of Konikuzhiyil, Poonthanam, Anas Babu, 40, alias Mani, of Parakkottu, Edathanattukara, and Manikandan, 38, of Puthan Pariyarath, Poonthanam.
Malappuram police chief Sujith Das said that Althaf, Rafeeque Muhammed Mustafa and Muhammed Abdul Ali were directly involved in the murder. However, the police could not nab the key accused in the case, Yahiya, who abandoned Abdul Jaleel in a private hospital in Perinthalmanna after brutally assaulting him. Police said the gang, including Yahiya, is involved in gold smuggling and hawala deals.
Abdul Jaleel, who had been working in Jeddah for eight years, arrived at Kochi airport last Sunday. The gang picked him up from the airport in the morning and brought him to Perinthalmanna in the afternoon. The gang brutally assaulted Jaleel with iron rods and other weapons at a playground at Akaparamba till 5 am on Monday. When Jaleel’s body parts started to bleed due to the assaults, the gang shifted him to the flat of Anas Babu in Perinthalmanna. The gang continued to beat him up in the flat. As the victim bled severely at the flat, Anas Babu asked the gang to shift Jaleel to some other place. Then, the gang shifted Jaleel to the house of Muhammed Abdul Ali in Pooppalam. The gang continued to beat him up at the house.
Unable to bear the physical assault, Jaleel fell unconscious on Wednesday. The gang members tried to wake him up by providing medications, but all efforts went in vain. Later, they admitted Jaleel to a private hospital in Perinthalmanna and fled from the area. They also informed the wife of Jaleel that her husband was admitted to the hospital.Police suspect that Yahiya is the gang leader and the one who abandoned Jaleel in hospital. “More people, including the members of the gang who kidnapped and assaulted Jaleel and extended help to the gang, will be nabbed soon. Jaleel might have failed to hand over the consignment he was carrying to the handlers in Kerala,” Sujith Das said.