Deadly attack on road shocks Kollam, murder-accused goon Aluva Athul hacked to death over suspected gang-rivalry

Kollam: A gang of four men hacked notorious goon Aluva Athul to death in broad daylight at Puthiyakavu, Karunagapally, on Saturday. Athul is the prime accused in the Gym Santosh murder case. He was out on bail and was returning in a car after turning up at the police station as part of the bail condition.

CCTV visuals of the attack showed four men emerging from an Innova car and hacking Athul to death. The car in which Athul was travelling was rammed from behind, and under the impact, it fell into an excavated portion of the NH under construction.

The assailants, all unmasked, were then seen approaching the car with sharp weapons. One of them targeted Athul, who was seated beside the driver's seat. The police suspect that another accused in the Santosh murder case also sustained grievous injuries in the attack. The gang was also seen smashing the glass windows of the car with sharp weapons

The sheer brazenness of the attack left the eyewitnesses, and even the cops, shocked. Though passers-by stopped their vehicles at the scene, none initially approached the attackers after noticing the weapons they were carrying. Residents rushed to Athul's aid only after the gang fled, but he had succumbed to his injuries by then.

Athul was one of the convicts in the murder of local gym owner Santosh, alias Gym Santosh, in Karunagappally on March 27, 2025. Santosh, who had earlier been out on bail in connection with a 2024 murder case, was attacked in his residence by a gang that included Athul.

The assailants allegedly broke into his house and killed him using weapons including a hoe, a machete and an iron rod.