The Thrissur police have taken into custody three men, following the mysterious death of a 68-year-old petrol pump owner from Kaipamangalam on Tuesday. The three men hail from Kaipamangalam, where Manoharan ran his petrol pump near Vazhiambalam.
“The three men have been identified as Anees, Ansar and Ceon. We are still questioning them and their arrest will be recorded very soon now,” Iringalakuda DYSP Famous Varghese told TNM.
According to reports, the trio allegedly murdered Manoharan after attempting to extort money from him. They were after the daily collection made at the petrol pump.
Manoharan had gone missing at around 1:30 am from Kaipamangalam on Tuesday. The Kaipamangalam police filed a missing case after his daughter said that the 68-year-old had not reached home after work in the pump. CCTV visuals show Manoharan driving his Maruti Ciaz and leaving the pump.
Six hours later at around 7.30am on Tuesday, Manoharan’s body was found near the Little Flower College in Guruvayur, 35 kms away from his house in Kaipamangalam. His hands seem to have been tied behind and his body was found in front of a dilapidated house near the college.
According to reports, Manoharan’s post-mortem also confirmed that he had suffocated to death.
“We have filed an FIR with sections 302 (murder), section 363 (punishment for kidnapping and abduction) and section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). We will be registering more sections as we keep questioning the accused and based on the evidence we collect,” DYSP Famous added.
Meanwhile, Manoharan’s car Maruti Ciaz was recovered from Angadipuram in Malappuram district. A team of police officers have left to Malappuram to collect the evidence, according to officers in the Kaipamangalam station.
The police have also confirmed that Manoharan’s death was not connected to another incident where an Uber driver was allegedly brutally assaulted by two persons in Thrissur. The two people had booked a cab under the pretext of visiting Amballur. However, on reaching an isolated location in Puthukad, the accused persons allegedly assaulted the driver - Rakesh Vijayan – pushed him out of the vehicle and drove away with the car. The incident took place at around the same time that Manoharan was kidnapped, raising suspicions that both cases being linked.