Kerala: SIT to probe murder of expat

KOZHIKODE: Kasaragod district police chief Vaibhav Saxena has constituted a 16-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged murder of an expatriate, Abookacker Sidhique, 32, in Kumbala.

Saxena said that police have received vital clues and that the SIT was looking at all angles behind the incident. The SIT includes Kasaragod DSP P Balakrishnan Nair, DCRB DSP U Preman, Kumbla inspector of police P Pramod, Manjeswaram inspector of police Santhosh Kumar among others.

According to sources, police have identified the 10-member gang who had assaulted and murdered Sidhique. A few of them are in custody as well, sources said. Police had initially registered the case as an incident of unnatural death. Later, the probe found out that it was a murder. Subsequently, the FIR has been altered by adding Section 302 (murder) of the IPC.

The victim was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by the accused who forced him to return from the Gulf. Siddique who had returned on Sunday was kidnapped and taken to Balangala ground where he was thrashed and fatally injured. The accused then took him to a private hospital at Banthiyodi and abandoned the body at the hospital after realizing that he was dead. Police have collected the CCTV footage in which visuals of at least two accused were found.
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