Thiruvananthapuram, May 27 (IANS): The Kerala Police, probing the butchering of a 58-year-old hotelier, on Saturday revealed that it was a case of a well-planned honey trap operation by the three accused who are presently under police custody.

Twenty-two-year-old Shibly, his female friend Farhana(18) and Ashiq were taken into custody for the gruesome murder of Siddiq, who owned a hotel in Malappuram district.

The brutal crime took place at a lodge where Siddiq had booked two rooms and all of them met there on May 18.

While interacting with the media, Malappuram Superintendent of Police Sujith Das called it a well planned honey-trap operation by the three.

"The rooms were booked by Siddiq and upon arriving there, he was joined by the other three. Soon, Siddiq was asked to strip and when he resisted, Farhana took out a hammer and handed it over to Shibly who banged it on Siddiq's head," said Das.

Shibly carried a knife with him.

"When Siddiq fell down after being hit by the hammer, Ashiq kicked him on his ribs. He suffered injuries on his lungs and died," said Das.

Das further said they then went to a shop and purchased a trolley-bag.

"Then they tried to stuff the body inside the trolley-bag, but when they failed, they returned to the market and purchased a mechanised cutter and a second

trolley-bag. The three then returned and with the help of the cutter chopped the body in the washroom and packed it in two trolley-bags," said Das.

"On May 19, Ashiq -- who was familiar with the terrain at Attapadi in Palakkad district--, carried the bags in his car, along with others, and dumped them on the roadside. Later, Farhana was dropped at her house," added Das.

"Early on May 24, Farhana and Shibly boarded a train to Chennai from Ottapalam from where they planned to catch a train to Assam, but were taken into custody by police," said Das.

Das pointed out that Farhana knew Siddiq before, as her father was his friend and it was she who got a job at his hotel for Shibly.

Shibly worked at his hotel for 15 days.

"We will recover the knife, hammer and the blood stained clothes which the accused have used on Saturday. The accused have told us where they have dumped these at a particular place," said Das.

The crime surfaced when Siddiq went missing from his hotel on the 18th of this month.

He was last spotted at a lodge about six kms from his hotel, the same day.

On Friday, the probe team along with Ashiq, reached Attapadi and recovered the two trolley bags.

The butchered body was then taken for autopsy at the Kozhikode Medical College hospital and handed over to the family in the evening.

The three accused are likely to be produced before a local court later in the day.