The Njarakkal police have arrested two persons in the case registered in connection with the alleged brutal assault of an autorickshaw driver who was left seriously injured at the Chathangad beach in Kuzhuppilly village in what is suspected to be a contract job on Monday midnight.
The arrested are Priyanka, 30, of Cheruvypu in Kuzhuppilly and Vithundev, 25, of Nayarambalam. Priyanka is the neighbour and cousin of the injured, Jaya T.K., 43, and Vithundev, a helper in the contract carriage of Priyanka’s husband Sajeesh. Four more accused, including Sajeesh, remain absconding.
“The arrested were not direct participants in the assault but were privy to it. There was a running feud between Jaya and Priyanka over demarcation of property, and Sajeesh had threatened Jaya many times in the past. He had hired a gang of three goons to assault her. Vithundev was the go-between Sajeesh and the goons as the former never directly contacted the goons,” said police sources.
The hired goons were accommodated in a local lodge last Saturday. Vithundev had allegedly given them a tour of the places, including the beach where the alleged assault took place. The assault was originally planned last Sunday but had to be put off as Jaya took a detour that day. The goons hired Jaya’s autorickshaw from the stand near the Pallathamkulangara Bhagavathy Temple on Monday evening, the sources said.
They then kept her engaged till late in the night before asking to drop them at Chathangad beach where she was allegedly assaulted by the three. According to the first information report, an attempt was made to smother her, and when she tried to flee, they reportedly restrained her and started beating her with a blunt object. They also allegedly stole her mobile phone worth ₹12,000.
The accused had left her on the beach and a man who was sleeping in the open was alerted by her wailing. When he approached her, she was lying in a collapsed state and through the pain requested him to alert Ilyas, an autorickshaw driver at the same stand.
The police have registered the case under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 341 (wrongful restraint), 392 (robbery), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
Published - June 12, 2024 08:27 pm IST
