Mangaluru: Murder suspect on the run for 30 years arrested
Mangaluru (Karnataka), Oct 24: The Mangaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) police have nabbed a murder suspect who had been evading arrest for nearly 30 years, police said on Thursday.
The accused, involved in a murder and assault case near MRPL in the Surathkal police station limits, was finally captured after an intensive operation, they said.
As per the case details with the Surathkal police station, around 30 years ago, a murder and assault took place, police said.
According to police, the owner of Rakshak Industrial Security Institute, Abdullah, had hired five security guards for a Delhi-based company. On the night of March 12, 1995, at approximately 10:30 p.m., security guards Suresh, Narayan, and Devanna were on duty at the site when three unknown individuals approached.
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The guards questioned their presence at that late hour, leading to an altercation. Two of the individuals attacked the security guards, resulting in the death of Narayan, who sustained severe injuries. The Surathkal police registered a case in connection with the incident, back then, a senior police official said.
On the same night, two of the suspects, identified as Achhan Kunju and Jose Kutty, were involved in a separate altercation with some labourers near the canteen at the MRPL site, he said.
When Thomas, a relative of the suspects, tried to intervene and stop the fight, he was attacked with an iron rod. Thomas was later admitted to the hospital with serious injuries, he said.
A case was filed against Achhan Kunju and Jose Kutty for this incident as well. These same suspects were later involved in the attack and murder of security guard Narayan, the official said.
Despite the police's efforts to gather information and apprehend the suspects over the years, they managed to remain at large, he said.
After committing the crime, the suspects fled to Kerala and then went into hiding in various states, including Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. An arrest warrant had been issued against them, he added.
Achhan Kunju passed away approximately eight years ago. However, the other suspect, Jose Kutty, continued to evade capture, police said.
For the past four months, the Mangaluru CCB police had been gathering intelligence on his whereabouts, they said.
On October 23, they arrested Jose Kutty Pappachan (55), son of Pappachan from Thrippunithura, in Kerala's Ernakulam and handed him over to Surathkal Police Station for further proceedings, the official added.
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Shivaji statue collapse case: HC grants bail to consultant Chetan Patil
Mumbai (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Thursday granted bail to consultant Chetan Patil arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj''s statue at Rajkot fort in Malvan in August.
A 35-foot statue of the iconic Maratha warrior king collapsed in Sindhudurg district on August 26, nearly nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it on Navy Day.
Patil was arrested on August 30 from Kolhapur.
A single bench of Justice A S Kilor on Thursday held that no case was made out to implicate Patil in the case as he had not been appointed as the structural designer of the statue.
The bench further said Patil had only submitted a structural stability report of the pedestal of the statue and the pedestal was intact even after the collapse.
Another accused, Jaydeep Apte, who was the sculptor and contractor, was also arrested in the case. The HC said it would hear his bail plea on November 25.
The Sindhudurg police had registered an FIR under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for negligence and other offences last month against Apte and Patil for the statue's collapse.
Patil and Apte moved HC seeking bail after a sessions court rejected their pleas.
