The Manjeri police have taken into custody and remanded a man accused of murdering a local councillor after he went into hiding on the day a court in Malappuram was set to pronounce its verdict in the case.

The accused, Shuhaib, along with another person, allegedly murdered Abdul Jaleel, a councillor of the Manjeri municipality, on March 29, 2022. The incident occurred around 10 pm when Shuhaib allegedly intercepted the car in which Jaleel was travelling and stabbed him with a sharp weapon.

According to the FIR, the attack was allegedly triggered by an earlier incident that day, when Jaleel had blocked Shuhaib's car, leading to a verbal altercation between the two.

As the three-year-long trial was nearing its conclusion, with the verdict scheduled to be delivered last week, Shuhaib went into hiding on the morning of the judgment.

"After he failed to appear before the court, the court split up the case against him and issued a warrant for his arrest. Acting on this, officers were mobilised to track him down," a police officer told Onmanorama.

Police eventually traced Shuhaib to a hideout near Nellikuthu, where he was taken into custody. He was later remanded to judicial custody and sent to prison.