Migrant worker, who killed Kerala woman, nabbed from Chennai

Adam Ali

Thiruvananthapuram: A migrant labourer, who was on the run after allegedly murdering an elderly woman in Kerala's Thiruvananthapuram district, has landed in police custody. Adam Ali, a native of West Bengal, was nabbed by the Railway Protection Force from Chennai on Monday. A team of Kerala police has left for Chennai to bring him back to the state.

The police team probing the murder of Manorama (68) at Rakshapuri Road, Kesavadasapuram, had found that Ali was at the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station in Thampanoor at 4.50 pm on Sunday. The police then alerted the law enforcement agencies in other states.

Police have taken five West Bengal natives into custody for questioning in connection with the killing of Manorama.

Manorama, wife of Dinaraj, was found dead in a well on the compound of her house by the police Sunday night. The police have collected CCTV footage from a neighbouring house which shows Ali dragging Manorama's body and dumping it into the well.

According to his co-workers, Ali said that he had slapped the elderly woman following an altercation with her and that he was leaving the place due to the incident.

They immediately told the house owner about it. The guest workers also informed the police that they found out that Manorama had gone missing only when they visited her house later in the day. 

As per the statement given by Ali's roommates to the police, he was a PUB-G (mobile game) addict and a habitual troublemaker.

During the search, police also found that Rs 50,000 had gone missing from Manorama's house.

Manorama was the retired superintendent of the Collegiate Education Department. Residents said they had seen some guest workers speaking on the phone near Manorama's residence in the past week.

Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner Sparjan Kumar, who visited the site, told reporters the Bengal natives were part of a crew engaged in the construction of a house near the victim's home.

Manorama was alone at the house when the incident happened. Dinaraj had gone to visit their daughter at Varkala.

Dinaraj was informed by his neighbours that they heard a cry from his house around noon. Though the neighbours launched a search for Manorama, they could not find her.

The police started their investigation around 3 pm on Sunday after Dinaraj filed a complaint. Manorama's body was found from the well on the neighbouring compound around 11.30 pm.

The migrant labourers used to fetch water from Manorama's house. The police suspect that the murder was planned after observing the movement of the couple.

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