A 34-year-old woman from Marayoor in Idukki, was shot dead, allegedly by her nephew who was livid that she tipped off forest officials about his smuggling activities. Chandrika, who hails from Palappetty, a tribal hamlet in Marayoor, was murdered on Friday night.
Three men, including a minor boy, have been taken into police custody. According to the police, 20-year-old Kaliyappan, who is Chandrika’s sister’s son, is alleged to have shot her using a gun at her farm in Palappetty.
“Kaliyappan was recently arrested by the Forest Department for smuggling sandalwood. It is said that Chandrika had tipped off this information to the officials. Last week, he was released on bail. As per the preliminary information, it was due to this grudge that he allegedly murdered her,” an official from Marayoor police station told TNM.
The other accused taken into custody is 19-year-old Mani. He along with a minor boy, whose age is yet to be ascertained, was present with Kaliyappan during the alleged crime. Reportedly, Chandrika's neighbours caught hold of the accused persons following the incident and handed them over to the police.
“The region is near a forest area and it takes an hour’s trek to reach there after the road ends,” said the police officer.
As per the police, Kaliyappan allegedly used a gun belonging to another person in the region. “A person living in the neighborhood had a gun which was allegedly used for hunting. Since it was illegal, this person had kept the gun hidden in the forest. Kaliyappan knew this spot and took the gun from there,” said the police official.
Police also say that all the accused were inebriated when the incident happened. “We are still collecting more details from him, he is not responding to our questions properly,” said the official.