Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Bar murder: two held

Thiruvananthapuram: The police have arrested two youngsters in connection with the murder of alleged drug peddler Sathar, 34, at a bar hotel near Eenchakkal junction last week.

City Police Commissioner Ravada Azad Chandresekhar said the suspects Syed Ali, 19, and Hanifa, 23, had killed their mentor Sathar to avenge the physical harassment and humiliation he had inflicted on them.

The police said Sathar headed a heroin peddling racket based in Beemapally. In 2004, the Fort police arrested Sathar on the charge of killing one of his customers by administering an overdose of heroin. He was arrested again on a similar murder charge a year later.

The police said Sathar had initiated Syed Ali and Hanifa into the world of crime and drugs. The youth parted ways with Sathar last year. The friends met again this year to jointly sell footwear at Beemapally during the Urus Festival. The police said Sathar started harassing them again for money.

On June 20, Sathar beat them at his nephew’s house in Beemapally. The torture hardened the resolve of the suspects to kill Sathar. They stole two machetes from a coconut vendor and fabricated two crude explosives for the operation.

Syed Ali stole a motorbike from East Fort. He met Sathar at Vallakkadavu at 7.30 p.m. and invited him to the bar hotel for a drink. Sathar ran into the bar when he saw Hanifa approaching him in an aggressive manner.

The suspects chased Sathar into the hotel and cut him down in front of at least 70 customers. The police counted 28 wounds on Sathar’s body. They recovered two unexploded crude bombs and a machete from the scene of crime.

The youth fled to Kanyakumari and later to Madurai on the stolen motorbike. The police got the mobile phone numbers of the suspects from one of their relatives. They used the help of mobile phone service providers to track the youth. The police led by Circle Inspector B. Harikumar followed them from Tirunelveli to a fishing hamlet near Vizhinjam from where they were arrested.

The Commissioner has announced rewards for Mr. Harikumar and his crime squad members A. R. Ajith and N. Rajan.

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