Man accused of murdering girl arrested in Kuwait after 9 years

Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (EP)

Kasargod, Sep 20: A man accused of murdering a degree student has been arrested in Kuwait after nine years. 

The accused is identified at Mohammed Afzal (34) from Telicherry. He allegedly murdered Safana of Thalassery.

The accused had been absconding in Kuwait after going there on a duplicate passport.  Interpol had released a warrant for his arrest.
 
On January 23, 2004 auto driver Afzal had allegedly stabbed Safana, a first year degree student at Thalassery, Christ College.  He was harassing, her demanding that she love him and killed her when she was on her way back home for having rejected his advances.
 
Afzal was arrested the next day of the murder but he absconded when the court granted him conditional bail after six months of his custody.  He obtained a passport in Bangalore in the name of Taj Pasha Khan and escaped to Kuwait.  He worked for three years in the company where his sister's husband was employed.
 
He went into hiding when he read news about him in the media.  The police had declared him absconding criminal on September 14, 2009 and released a lookout notice.
 
Interpol was looking for him and he has been arrested based on secret information received by the police.  The parents of the victim had urged the central and state government to arrest Afzal.