Kasaragod: A day after a poultry transporter was found bludgeoned to death near a Bevco outlet at Seethangoli in Kumbla panchayat, police arrested a 39-year-old speech and hearing-impaired man, after navigating an unusual interrogation to crack the case.

Sreenivasa of Kottakkara at Naikap in Kumbla, was arrested and remanded in judicial custody for the murder of Shafayath (36), a poultry truck driver and father of four, said Kumbla Station House Officer Inspector Baiju K Jose.

Police said they had to rope in a special communicator to question the accused. But as Sreenivasa, who occasionally works in brick kilns, was not formally trained in sign language, even that was not easy. “This is the first time I am arresting a speech and hearing-impaired person in a murder case,” said the inspector.

Police said Sreenivasa indicated that an argument under the influence of alcohol escalated into the killing. Investigators found that the two men moved in the same circle and often pooled money to buy liquor. On Tuesday morning, a quarrel broke out over a trivial issue. It later spilled into the afternoon and Sreenivasa allegedly picked up a wooden plank used in construction and struck Shafayath on the head, killing him. Police do not suspect the involvement of others in the crime.

The accused was identified after police traced the earlier dispute between the two and brought him in for questioning. Officers clarified that a group clash reported at the same location on Monday was unrelated to the murder.

Shafayath, a native of Neerchal in Badiadka panchayat, was found lying in a pool of blood behind a building near the Bevco outlet on Tuesday afternoon, with severe head injuries. A blood-stained piece of wood recovered from the spot is believed to be the murder weapon.

Shafayath is survived by his wife Tabshira, alias Beefaathima, and four young children, aged 10, six, three years, and eight months old.