Kerala - Kozhikode   

Prime accused in murder of resort owner nabbed

Staff Reporter

Kozhikode: In a major breakthrough, the Kozhikode Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department (CB-CID) on Wednesday arrested the prime accused in the murder of A.M. Abdul Kareem, 50, proprietor of a resort at Vythiri in Wayanad district, in February. Crime Branch Superintendent of Police T.V. Kamalakshan and Deputy Superinten dent of Police (Dy.SP), Abdul Ha meed said that the prime accused was Babu Varghese (52), managing director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Tour India. The accused confessed to the crime and said he had hired a six-member gang in Kochi to kill Kareem.

The police said the murder was committed to avenge the incident in which Babu Varghese was remanded to jail after Abdul Kareem filed a case against him on the charge of trespassing into his resort in December 2005. Abdul Kareem had leased out his resort, Jungle Park and Green Magic Nature Resorts on Finster Hills at Vythiri on the Kozhikode-Mysore Highway, to Babu Varghese for two years from 2004 to 2006. However, Babu Varghese had modified the year to 2008. Kareem got justice from the High Court.

Crime Branch sleuths also arrested three of the six-member gang. They were identified as K. Joshidas (32) and P. Anilan (33), hailing from Thrissur district, and M. Ronnie (25), hailing from Ernakulam district. The team also nabbed M. Jiji (40) and V. Jyothiskumar (36), hailing from Vythiri, on the charge of hiring goondas to commit the crime. Three of the gang members are still at large. The police have launched a search for two other middlemen from Wayanad district, Mr. Kamalakshan said.

The accused were produced before the court at Thamarassery. They were remanded to judicial custody for two weeks. Abdul Kareem was kidnapped along with his driver, Sivan, at the Wayanad ghats at 9.30 p.m. on February 11. Kareem was found with serious injuries at a rubber estate near Adivaram, bordering Kozhikode-Wayanad districts. He succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. The post-mortem examination report said Kareem had been strangled to death, he said.

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