Kochi police arrested six more persons on Tuesday over the murder of 33-year-old Jibin Varghese, who was killed for allegedly having an extramarital affair with a married woman. A total of thirteen persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case.
The arrested include prime accused Anees (34), who is a resident of Aluva in Ernakulam district. The other arrested include Vazhakala resident Azeez (47), Kakkanad native KA Nizar (30), Vazhakala resident KP Salam (42) and Kakkanad residents, KP Hasainer (37) and UH Shihab (33). According to a Times of India report, the arrested will be produced before court on Wednesday.
The arrest comes a day after Kochi police arrested seven others who were involved in the crime. The police are now in search of one more person who was also involved in the crime.
Jibin was murdered over an alleged love affair with a woman in the family of one of the accused persons. After murdering the victim, the accused had staged an accident scene at Vennala-Palachuvadu road in Kochi to cover up the crime.
The incident occurred just a day after the new city Police Commissioner, S Surendran had taken charge in Kochi. Police officials who reached the Palachuvadu road where Jibin was found dead, immediately suspected that the accident was staged. The investigation officers were divided into 20 teams headed by the city police commissioner.
According to police, one of the accused persons had invited Jibin through the woman’s WhatsApp account. Based on investigation, it was found that Jibin, who hailed from Kakkanad, had visited the house of one of the accused Aseez at 12 midnight on March 9. He was then beaten up after being tied to a staircase in the house for about two hours, which led to his death. He was later taken in an auto and dumped on a road near Palachuvadu.