Murder accused built new life running roadside eateries, arrested after 25 yrs in Kannur
A murder suspect, 58, arrested after 25 years, had lived under assumed identities, running roadside eateries and building a new life in various towns.
A murder suspect, 58, arrested after 25 years, had lived under assumed identities, running roadside eateries and building a new life in various towns.
A murder suspect, 58, arrested after 25 years, had lived under assumed identities, running roadside eateries and building a new life in various towns.
A murder accused who had been evading arrest for nearly a quarter of a century has finally been arrested by Kannur City Police.
The accused, C H Ashraf (58) of Kathirur, had been declared a fugitive by a court in connection with the 2001 murder of Vettummal Ratheesh of Vettummal, 9 km from Thalassery on Kuthuparamba road. He was arrested by a special investigation team after an extensive manhunt.
According to police, Ashraf severed all ties with his hometown and relatives after the crime. For the first 10 years after the murder, he allegedly lived under assumed identities and worked in hotels in Mysuru, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
Over the past 15 years, he is said to have moved between Payyannur, Pazhayangadi, Kurumathur and Nidumunda, earning a living by running roadside food stalls. During this period, he lived with a new family at a new address. Police said changes in his appearance and the absence of any recent records made tracking him particularly difficult.
The case was reinvestigated by a special team constituted on the instructions of Kannur City Police Commissioner B V Vijay Bharat Reddy. Investigators split into multiple teams and conducted inquiries in Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Mysuru, gathering information from old acquaintances and local sources.
The breakthrough came when the team received intelligence suggesting that the accused was staying in the Payyannur area. Police then conducted surveillance at hotels and roadside eateries in and around Payyannur for a week. Ashraf was finally taken into custody from Nidumunda near Kurumathur in the early hours of Thursday.
The case relates to the murder of Ratheesh at Vettummal, then within the limits of Panoor Police Station on December 11, 2001. According to police, a gang first threw a bomb to create chaos, and then hacked him. Ratheesh later succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Ten other accused were arrested and convicted in the case, while Ashraf remained absconding, said a police officer at Panoor Police Station.
He said the investigators had long suspected that Ratheesh may have been targeted in a case of mistaken identity. He said those convicted in the murder case were CPM workers. However, the political affiliation, if any, of Ashraf is not immediately known, he said.