A week on, murder accused still at large

Attingal: The family of Ananthu Mohan, the dalit youth who was allegedly murdered recently, has accused the police of aiding the accused by delaying his arrest.
Ananthu, who was allegedly brutally beaten up by his neighbour Mohammed Abdulla alias Mammathulla around 11.45pm on January 29, succumbed to injuries on February 1.

Ananthu’s elder sister Aswathy said the police laxity in acting promptly in the case helped the accused evade arrest.

“He went absconding only after Ananthu died. He was very much present at his home till the day my brother died,” said Aswathy, adding that police did not act on the family’s complaint regarding the assault.

Aswathy said that a friend of Ananthu had detained Abdulla and called the police on January 31. But the officers refused to come to the spot. Even on the day of the death, the local people reported spotting Abdulla in the locality but the police never turned up.

“He (Abdulla) beat up my brother accusing him of stealing petrol from his motorcycle. But neither did he own a vehicle nor he knew driving,” Aswathy said hinting that there must be some other reason for the attack.

Meanwhile, the police have listed technical reasons for the delay in the arrest. Since SC/ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act was invoked, the probe was handed over to the Attingal DSP, they said.

Ayiroor sub-inspector Sajeev said that he was not authorised to comment on the case as it was now with the DSP.

Attingal DSP P Anilkumar however said that he was yet to begin the probe as he was on leave for the past few days. “But that doesn’t mean that junior officers should not arrest the accused, if spotted,” the DSP said. Ananthu was a contract labourer at a car showroom at Kadakkal.