THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Police have arrested the two main accused involved in the murder of a 26-year-old youth near Karamana on Friday.
Akhil aka Appu and Vineeth Raj were arrested from their respective hideouts on Saturday. Appu was arrested from Tamil Nadu, while Vineeth was arrested from his hideout in Rajaji Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram.
The victim, who shares the same name as the accused, Akhil, was brutally murdered by Appu and his accomplices after beating him up with sticks and bludgeoning him with hollow bricks. It was Appu's rivalry with Akhil that culminated in the murder. Vineeth also played a key role in the murder as he was the one who dropped a hollow brick on Akhil's head.
The police said Appu and Akhil had a tiff in a bar at Pappanamcode on April 25. Appu and his men harboured vengeance towards Akhil and hatched a plan to murder him.
He was kidnapped from near his house near Karamana and later murdered at an empty plot near Maruthoorkadavu.
The police had earlier arrested four men involved in the murder. Aneesh, Kiran Krishnan, Kiran and Harilal were arrested for allegedly hatching the murder conspiracy and providing logistics to the killer gang.
Another person, Sumesh, who is suspected to be directly involved in the murder, is yet to be apprehended.
Sans Kiran, the rest were involved in the infamous Ananthu murder in 2019. The gang had murdered Ananthu in a grotesque manner under the influence of drugs and video recorded the killing.