Kasaragod: Three people have been taken into police custody for questioning over the murder of a 31-year-old Non-Resident Indian (NRI).
The police suspect that Abubacker Siddique, a native of Mugu village in Kasaragod, was the victim of a hitjob by an organised gang based at Paivalike.
Paivalike is another village in Kerala's northernmost Kasaragod district.
They suspect a 10-member gang behind the abduction and murder. The gang had earlier abducted the brother and a relative of Siddique forcing him to come to Kerala, they added.
He was abducted and later done away with by gangsters. An injury to the head had caused the death, as per preliminary inputs.
Siddique had got into a dispute with a Manjeshwar native about some financial dealings overseas, and this could have led to the murder, as per the preliminary inference of the police. The gang was allegedly assigned by the Manjeshwar native.
The suspects themselves took Siddique to the hospital at Bandiyod and fled in a vehicle. This vehicle was found abandoned near Thalapady on Monday morning. The owner of this vehicle is among those who are being questioned in custody.
The post-mortem report of Siddique shows that he was brutally assaulted and the reason for death was a blow to the head and bleeding inside the head. The report also says his internal organs were damaged.
Siddique could have died at least 30 minutes before he was admitted to the hospital at Bandiyod, according to the doctors.
The culprits had fled before the hospital staff could inform them about the death. The suspects and the vehicle were identified from the CCTV footage from the hospital.
A 16-member police team, led by two Deputy Superintendents of Police (DySPs) is probing the case.
