Praveen Arun Chowgale, recently arrested on the charge of murdering a 40-year-old woman and her three children in Udupi, was remanded in judicial custody for 14 days on Wednesday.
Chowgale, a cabin crew member of Air India Express, is accused of hacking to death his colleague Aynaz, 21, her mother Haseena, 40, and her siblings Afnan, 23, and Asim, 12, in Nejaru near Malpe, on November 12.
A team of the Udupi police went to Kudachi in Belagavi district and arrested Chowgale on November 15.
Following application by the investigation officer, the jurisdictional magistrate had allowed the police to take custody of Chowgale.
The police took Chowgale to the victims’ house in Nejaru on November 16 for mahazar. While returning from the house, there was a protest by the victims’ family members and other residents against Chowgale.
The police were forced to do a mild lathicharge to disperse the angry crowd. A Karnataka State Reserve Police constable was injured in the melee.
The police then took Chowgale to the flat in Bejai in Mangaluru where they seized a knife, a mask, a car, and a few other things allegedly used in the crime.
The police have also recovered, near a temple in Mulky, some clothes worn by Chowgale on the day of murder, which had been reportedly burnt.
The Udupi District Muslim Okkoota held a meeting on Wednesday in Santekatte Kalyanpur to condole the deaths and also condemned Chowgale.
The okkoota asked police to arrest at the earliest all persons who supported Chowgale in the murder.
Haseena’s husband Noor Mohammed and okkoota president Yasin Malpe spoke at the meeting. Former Kaup MLA Vinaykumar Sorake and Congress leader M.A. Gafoor attended the meeting.
