Daijiworld Media Network - Thrissur

Thrissur, Oct 6: A 61-year-old man, Sunny of Chowannur, was arrested in connection with the discovery of a half-charred body in a rented room in Chowannur, police said on Monday.

Sunny, who has a criminal past involving two murder cases in 2003 and 2005, was taken into custody from the Thrissur Sakthan bus stand after being on the run.

Police said the murder may have occurred following a dispute over unnatural sex. Locals reported smoke from Sunny’s rented room on Sunday evening, prompting the Kunnamkulam police to rush to the scene and find the half-burnt body.

"Sunny claimed he did not know much about the victim. He befriended him at a liquor outlet and brought him to his room on Sunday," a police officer said. Sunny allegedly forced the victim into unnatural sex, attacked him during a dispute, and then set the room on fire using inflammable liquid.

Police have recovered CCTV footage showing Sunny and the victim together. The accused had previously worked as a security guard in Thrissur.

The police initially registered a case of unnatural death but later added murder charges against Sunny. The victim, estimated to be around 35 years old, is yet to be identified. The body has been shifted to Thrissur Medical College for postmortem, and CCTV footage has been circulated to all police stations to aid the investigation.