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On June 4, a 56-year-old man walked into the Vengara police station in Kerala’s Malappuram district and made a startling confession. He said he had committed two murders, one in 1986 and the other in 1989. A police investigation confirmed that two deaths had indeed occurred on the dates that the man mentioned.
The man, identified as Muhammed Ali alias Antony (he later converted to Islam), a daily wage labourer from Vengara, is currently in judicial remand. According to media reports, he told the police his confession stemmed from feelings of guilt after witnessing tragedies in his family, including the death of one of his sons.
Confessing to the first murder, Muhammed told the police that in 1986, he had kicked a man into a stream a day after the man reportedly sexually assaulted him. Muhammed was a teenager at the time and working on a plantation at Koodaranji in Kozhikode. Two days after the incident, he learnt that the man had drowned and decided not to inform anyone about it.
Following the confession, police found old documents, including the First Information Report (FIR) about a man’s death in 1986 by the Thiruvambady police and a related newspaper report. The Malayala Manorama article on December 5 that year, aligning with Muhammed’s confession, says that a man’s body was found in a canal near the Mission Hospital, and the deceased appeared to be 20 years old.
Since the man was known to have epilepsy, the police had concluded that his death was probably caused by the condition. No complaints or suspicions were raised either. As nobody claimed the body, it was buried as unidentified.
Vengara police told TNM that after their investigation revealed an incident similar to Muhammed’s confession, they registered a case, arrested him, and later, the Malappuram court remanded him. The case was later transferred to Thiruvambady since it comes under their jurisdiction.
Thiruvambady police have registered an FIR and charged Muhammed under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police have also sent a request to the Revenue Divisional Officer’s court in Kozhikode to obtain the files in the 1986 case.
“We cannot move forward without getting the old documents, including the FIR, post-mortem report, inquest report, etc. We also sent a request to the Forensic Department in the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital for the post-mortem report. Since it was an unnatural death, a post-mortem was conducted,” said K Prajeesh, Circle Inspector of the Thiruvambady station.
Second confession
Muhammed’s second confession pertains to another murder he committed with his friend in Kozhikode’s Vellayil beach in 1989. According to Muhammed, an unidentified man had allegedly snatched money from him at the beach one day. He saw the same man on the beach another day and confronted him along with one of his friends, which led to the murder.
Police later found a news report that aligns with this confession. A news report on Malayala Manorama on September 25, 1989, detailed the recovery of an unidentified body from Vellayil beach. “The body was found with blood flowing from the nose and ear,” the report said.
The police have not yet registered any case in connection with the second confession.
TK Ashraf, the Kozhikode Town Assistant Commissioner, told TNM that they are currently in the process of obtaining and verifying documents. “If we find any evidence that aligns with his confession, we will reopen the case,” he added.
According to the police, the key issue they face is that both the victims allegedly murdered by Muhammed Ali remain unidentified.