Brothers held on charges of patricide in Kozhikode

The Kozhikode Crime Branch cracked the case of the killing of a Non Resident Indian (NRI) businessman by arresting his two sons on Tuesday.

Investigators said that Midhilaj, 24 and Firdouse, 22, were arrested on the charge of murdering their father, Abdul Kareem, 48, a Kuwait- based NRI businessman, on September 28, last year. They were produced before Thamarassery Judicial First Class Magistrate Court and remanded to judicial custody for 14 days.

The probe revealed that the brothers had killed their father to get hold of his assets. Previously the local police had filed a case of man- missing. But the case was later transferred to the Crime Branch.

The brothers had nursed a grudge against their father after his second marriage to a Sri Lankan citizen. They believed that their father would transfer all his assets to their step-mother as Midhilaj was abruptly stopped from managing his business in Kuwait.

The accused reached Kareem's house, switched off the power supply and forcefully made Kareem to inhale chloroform. They then tied his hands and smothered the victim with a pillow.

The contradictory statements given by the brothers during interrogation helped the investigators crack the case.