The police have arrested one person from Tumkur in Karnataka in connection with the murder of three members of a family running a lodge at Adimlali in Idukki district.
Addressing the media at Adimali on Monday, Munnar Dy.SP Prabhulla Chandran said the accused Manjunath, 21, was arrested on Sunday night from his house at Tumkur. He added that two others involved in the case were absconding.
They allegedly murdered Parackel Kunjumuhammed at the lodge and his wife and mother at their residence nearby.
Their motive was to steal the gold ornaments of his wife and mother.
Mr. Chandran said the accused used to sell woollen dress materials in the area. There were some cases pending against them at the city police station, Tumkur.
They were acquaintance of the victims and had taken rooms at the lodge last year also. They took rooms on January 11 and on February 13 night called Kunjumuhammed to the lodge complaining that there was no water at the lodge.
When he arrived, the accused attacked and strangled him to death. They then moved to his residence and killed the others too. The police had recovered some gold ornaments from Manjunath.
Though the accused had torn away the page of the register on which their names were written, the imprint of the words on the following page helped the police trace the accused.
