Kasaragod: Police have arrested elder brother Jayarama Nonda (45) and his two accomplices for hacking Prabhakara Nonda (42) in Paivalike grama panchayat's Kalai, a village on the border of Karnataka to death
Manjeshwar Station House Officer - Inspector Santhosh Kumar A identified the accomplices as Ismail (28) of Mogral Puthur panchayat in Kasaragod; and Khalid (35) of Attagoli near Manjeshwar.
Kasaragod DySP P K Sudhakaran, who is heading the investigation, said three more persons are yet to be arrested in the crime.
Inspector Kumar alleged Jayarama Nonda hired Ismail and his gang for Rs 15 lakh to kill Prabhakara because the younger brother was not ready for partition.
Their mother Baby Narayana Nonda (75) owned two acres of betel nut plantation at Kalai and a vast coconut and betel nut farm in Puttur, 30 km from their village, in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district. "Both the properties are the mother's ancestral property but Prabhakara controlled the assets with an iron fist. He was not even ready for talks on partition," said Kumar.
In the past month, Jayarama had told several persons in the village that he would kill Prabhakara for refusing to divide their mother's property.
The inspector said Jayarama contacted Khalid to help him kill his brother. Khalid brokered the deal with Ismail, he said.
Jayarama, Ismail, and his three accomplices attacked Prabhakara on June 3, Saturday, officers said. Police found 48 deep wounds on his body. "They were on the neck, arms, and abdomen. They were not stab wounds by slash marks," said DySP Sudhakaran.
After the murder, Ismail and Khalid stayed at home but Jayarama fled, making him the prime suspect.
How Jayarama was caught
When the police arrived at the Nondas' house, after the crime was reported, the officers asked about Jayarama. He was missing and his phone was switched off.
Sudhakaran said both the brothers were facing charges of murder, theft, and assault in Karnataka. Manjeshwar police filed cases against the brothers for assaulting each other in 2019.
So when Jayarama was missing, the police went to his close friend's house. The friend told police that he came to his house around 6 am and left with Rs 500.
After some time, Jayarama called his friend from an unknown number and asked for some money. He asked him to bring the money to Puttur, where he has farmland. When the second call was made, Manjeshwar police were at the friend's house.
Soon, the friend and police reached Puttur. On seeing the police, Jayarama ran and fell into a drain, said officers.
When interrogated, he revealed the names of Khalid, Ismail, and other accomplices.
Jayarama was remanded in judicial custody on Sunday. The other two would be produced before the court today, said Inspector Kumar.
