A woman civil police officer (CPO) died after she was set ablaze by a man at Thekkemuri in Vallikunnam panchayat in Alappuzha on Saturday.
The deceased, Soumya Pushpakaran, 37, was a CPO with the Vallikunnam police station.
Alappuzha district police chief (DPC) K.M. Tomy told The Hindu that a person identified as N. I. Ajas, 33, also a civil police officer, with the Aluva traffic station had been taken into custody. “She was returning home on a motorcycle after attending a training programme for Student Police Cadets. The attacker, an unmarried person, followed her in a rented car and dashed her bike when she entered a path leading to her house. She fell off the vehicle and tried to escape. But he hacked and set her on fire after pouring fuel oil. She was set ablaze in the compound of a house barely 25 metres from her own house,” Mr. Tomy said.
Soumya, a mother of three children, died on the spot. The attacker too sustained burns. The DPC said the reason for the attack had not been established yet. “He suffered 40% burns and has been admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha. We need to question him and examine the call records before establishing the exact reason.”
The local residents said Ajas was caught by some of them soon after the attack and handed over to the police. Two of the victim’s children Rishikesh and Aathishesh had gone to tuition class while the youngest child Rithika was away with Soumya’s parents at the time of the attack. Her husband returned to Gulf a month ago after coming here on leave.
