R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala (EP)

Karkala, Jan 1: Police team led by Hebri inspector Kumar on Tuesday December 31 arrested a man for allegedly murdering his colleague and making it look like an attack by a wild animal.

The accused, arrested in Kokkarne near Brahmavar, is identified as Puttur Santu alias Santhosh.

The incident occurred on December 26 in the morning. Prakash Namboodiri (65) is said to have died in a shed belonging to Kervase KCDC, where he was employed, and scratch marks were found on the body. As the place is in a forest area, it was assumed that he might have died after attack by a wild animal. A case was registered in Ajekar police station based on a complaint by Harinarayana, junior assistant at KCDC.

However, the post-mortem revealed that the scratch marks were made by a human and not any wild animal.

Santu alias Santhosh who was on duty at KCDC the time of the incident had gone absconding. It is said an altercation might have taken place between the deceased and Santu resulting in the murder of Prakash.

The police began a search for Santhosh and arrested him at Kokkarne near Brahmavar on Tuesday.

The police have said that Santu had gone away asking Prakash to look after his farm. However, when he returned, he found that cattle had eaten away some of the plants. Santu who got annoyed over this fought with Prakash. The arguments led to a fight and ended in the murder of Prakash, police said, adding that Prakash was hit with a heavy stick and killed.