Thenhipalam: Following a tip-off from a lawyer, the police have arrested three youths in the case related to the death of a middle-aged man who questioned them for smoking on a private plot.

Krishnamoorthy, belonging to Ariyallur in Tamil Nadu and residing at a rented house in Chelari, had succumbed to injuries from severe thrashing, allegedly unleashed by the youths.

The arrested youths are Sarat (29) of Kuzhikkattil Mala, Vallikkunnu; Akhil Lal (25) of Perikkolil, Velimukku in Moonniyur and K P Muhammed Shafi (18) of Cherambathumad in Chelari. They were later produced before the court.

The incident related to the case took place on September 30. Krishnamoorthy, who suffered injuries to his vertebral column in the attack, remained on the road for an entire night before being shifted to hospital.

The next morning, he was taken to a private hospital. From there, he was being transferred to another hospital in Puducherry for advanced treatment when he succumbed to his injuries when the ambulance reached Palakkad.

How the case was cracked

Initially, the police did not come across any clue regarding the case. However, sometime later, a relative of one of the arrested youths acted too clever and approached a lawyer seeking to know whether a person who had witnessed a man being beaten up would face criminal charges.

This proved to be a turning point in the case as the lawyer informed the investigating officers of the man’s query. A vigorous probe launched by the police based on this clue led them to the three youths.

The arrests were carried out following an investigation conducted by a team comprising Malappuram DySP Jaleel Thottathil, Thenhipalam sub-inspector Binu Thomas, Grade SI M Subrahmaninan, ASIs Jayadevan, P K Anandan and A K Udayakumar and civil police officers M Dinesan, C P Sajeev, C Dinu and M Prabheesh.

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