Kasargod: Accidental death turns out to be murder - Five arrested

Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod

Kasargod, May 23: Five persons were arrested on Thursday May 23 after an 'accidental' death of a man turned out to be a case of murder.

In February this year, Shivappa Nayak (35), a resident of Mallampare, Adoor was said to have met his end after he fell into a pond. It was considered an accident at first, but police investigation has now revealed that Shivappa was in fact murdered.

Shivappa Nayak

Venkappa Nayak (30) of Mallapare, Kallathil Seetarama (32), Subraya (38), Shivappa's relative Janardhan (28) and Somashekar (26) were arrested in this connection.

Police said that a dispute over property and an old rivalry had led to the crime.

On February 24, Shivappa's body was recovered from a pond near his house. At that time, police suspected that he had slipped while walking towards his house at night and fallen into the pond. A case of unnatural death was registered.

However, Shivappa's wife refused to believe that it was an accidental death, and as suspicions arose, she approached the home minister and district police chief and appealed for a thorough investigation. Thereafter, a special investigative team was formed. The locals too joined in by forming a committee to demand justice.

Investigation later revealed that on the night of Shivappa's death, the accused had stopped him while he was on his way home, and begun an argument. When the situation went out of hand, the accused strangled Shivappa with a cloth and threw his body into the pond, before disappearing from the scene, police said.

Some of the accused had even assisted in retrieving Shivappa's body and helped in arranging his funeral, claiming that they had no knowledge about the incident, police said.

Adoor circle inspector A Satish Kumar led the investigations. Police personnel K Unnikrishnan, Pratish Gopal, Santosh Don and others were part of the team.