A distinctive T-shirt logo helped the police arrest three youths, all drummers of a local band, who allegedly murdered a man for sachets of alcohol.
On March 25, the accused, Lokesh, 21, Sevaraj, 19, and Sunil A., 20, saw a man in Cox Town carrying two sachets of whiskey. “They tried to snatch it from him, but he put up a fight. They stabbed him on the back with a knife and sped away with the alcohol on their scooter,” said a police officer.
The victim, Satyasheelan, who was inebriated, stumbled and fell on a roadside garbage dump and passed away. He was a labourer and lived in the area.
The next day, a few residents saw Satyasheelan lying motionless but they thought he was drunk and had passed out. However, by evening, when they realised he had not stirred all day, they alerted the police and his family.
The Pulakeshinagar police took up a case of unnatural death and sent the body for post-mortem. On April 6, however, they received the post-mortem stating that he had died from shock and haemorrhage as a result of stab injury on his back.
CCTV camera footage
The investigation team viewed the CCTV camera footage. “Some footage showed three men in the vicinity, but their faces were not clear. However, one of the men was wearing a T-shirt with a distinctive logo,” said Firoz Mohammed, police inspector, Pulakeshinagar.
With that information and a basic physical description, the police zeroed in on the accused, who were hiding in a graveyard. They were picked up for questioning. The trio allegedly confessed to the crime. “We have also recovered the knife and scooter they used,” said the police.
They have been remanded in judicial custody.