Idukki: A 34-year-old tribal woman was shot dead allegedly by her nephew, an accused in a sandalwood smuggling case, near Idukki's Marayoor as he believed that she had tipped off the police about his illegal activities.
The 19-year-old and two others were taken into custody in connection with the killing of Chandrika on Friday night at her farm near the Palappetty tribal settlement, police said on Saturday.
Two weeks ago, the woman's nephew was arrested by the Forest department for his alleged links with a sandalwood- smuggling gang and was later released on bail.
"The incident happened near Palapetty here. The accused was arrested two weeks ago by the forest department for his links with a sandalwood smuggling gang.
It is suspected that he shot the woman believing that he was arrested based on her tip off," a police official said..
Further investigations are on, he said.
(With PTI inputs)
