An armed gang hacked to death a 28-year-old man and seriously injured another at Nedungadu near Karamana early on Wednesday.
Circle Inspector, Thampanoor, Sheen Tharayil, identified the deceased as Saji. Renjith, who was injured in the attack, has been admitted to the Medical College Hospital here. His condition is reported to be stable.
The police said the murder was the latest occurrence in a long-drawn-out and blood-spattered gangland feud, which had rocked public peace in the district several times in the past five years.
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Mr. Sheen said the assailants had brutally tortured Saji to know the whereabouts of gangster Soju. The police suspect that Soju’s long-time rival Choozhattupettah Ambili had hired the assailants.
The gang first kidnapped Renjith and asked him to summon Saji, who apparently had intimate knowledge of Soju’s movements. The police said the gang killed Saji in a plot of marshy land abutting the Karamana-Nedungad road. The gang members let off Renjith after wounding him grievously.
The feud started in February 2006 when Parassala Binu and his gang hacked to death rival gang-leader Motta Ani, Soju’s brother-in-law, at Karamana.
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The police case was that Ambili, a spirit smuggler, had contracted Binu to eliminate Motta Ani, who he viewed as a business rival.
In September the same year, Soju killed Binu at Vellaikonam. The police had named Roby as second accused in that murder. In February 2011, an armed gang hacked Roby to death in the backyard of a house in Malayinkeezhu. The early morning crime was yet another typical mafia style hit-and-run operation, involving several elements, including spotters, trackers, assailants and a back-up squad to facilitate the escape of the hit-team.
‘Straightforward’
In contrast, Saji’s murder was “pretty straightforward,” a senior official said. He said the assailants were in no hurry to kill Saji. They allowed Renjith to live as a witness to their brutality. The assailants also made no attempt to hide their identity or motive.
It was almost as if they wanted their rivals and the public to know the extent of their resolve and brutality. There seemed to be “a message in the murder,” he said.