Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 3 Two people, including an 18-year-old girl, have been arrested and a teenage boy detained in connection with the murder of a 17-year-old boy, whose body was found stuffed in a sack and dumped in a vacant plot here, police said on Tuesday.
The girl and the teenage boy were acquaintances of the deceased, Abhiram, who went missing from his home on Sunday afternoon, police said.
The other arrested accused, Umar, is involved in other criminal cases and is facing proceedings under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA), police said.
A senior police officer later told reporters that the juvenile accused, who allegedly carried out the murder, had been sent to an observation home for 10 days by the Juvenile Justice Board.
“We are investigating. There may be others involved in the matter. We have a strong case,” he said.
Abhiram’s body was found on Monday, stuffed inside a sack and dumped among banana plants in an isolated plot at Pangappara near Sreekaryam.
His parents had approached the Sreekaryam police after he failed to return home, and the body was recovered after some of his friends were questioned. A preliminary examination suggested he had been strangled, a police officer said.
On Tuesday, Abhiram’s father raised serious doubts about the circumstances of the murder. He claimed his son was not the intended target and was killed after refusing to bring another boy to the spot at the accused’s request.
According to Abhiram’s father, the 17-year-old named as the first accused called Abhiram using a phone belonging to the accused girl and asked him to come to Pangappara.
After Abhiram reached the spot, he was allegedly asked to bring another friend there. His father claimed the group was actually looking for that friend and that his son was killed after he refused to cooperate.
He also questioned whether the 17-year-old could have committed the murder alone, and suspects the boy may have taken the blame to shield others, since his age could mean a comparatively limited punishment under the law.
“How could a 17-year-old have committed such a crime all by himself? I suspect that he has been made to take the blame for others,” he said.
Abhiram’s father alleged that police failed to question the teenager properly when he was first taken into custody.
Instead of continuing the interrogation, they allegedly let him leave with his own father after asking him to return to the station the next morning. A proper interrogation at that stage could have uncovered the truth earlier, he said, and he asked what had happened in the hours before the teenager was questioned again.
He said Abhiram and the 17-year-old were not close friends, though they studied at the same school. His son had no reason to go to the isolated spot unless he had been specifically called there, he said.
“This should not be treated as an ordinary murder case. I want the entire conspiracy behind my son’s death to be brought out,” he said.
(PTI News)
