Twelve hours after the body of a migrant worker was found under the North Overbridge, the North police hunted down the accused who had gone hiding on Friday morning.
The arrested was identified as Kunjumon aka Christopher of Kollam. He stands accused of murdering Suman, 35, of West Bengal on Thursday night.
The victim and his friend Vinod had come here for plastic collection six years back. They used to camp beneath the overbridge along with the accused, who was a cobbler.
According to the police, the accused, in an inebriated state, picked up a fight with the victim and his friend alleging that they usurped his regular place under the bridge. The heated exchange soon turned into a fight and the accused allegedly took out a knife and stabbed the victim in the chest.
He then fled the scene fearing mob fury. North police officials who reached the scene after being alerted by the control room rushed the victim to the hospital by which time he had already died.
K. Laljy, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Ernakulam), also reached the spot and a manhunt was launched immediately. Meanwhile, teams were sent to various parts of the State on receiving information that the accused had left on a train.
Eventually, he was picked up from his hideout around 8.30 a.m. “The accused did not use mobile phones and hence it was not possible to track him down through mobile tower location. We, however, had given our contact numbers to all who had known the accused. Information passed on by one of them helped nab him from Kaloor,” said V.B. Anas, Sub Inspector, North.
He was produced in court and remanded.