After sounding critical of the Panangad police over the investigation of his missing son Arjun Vidhyan, who was later found dead, M.S. Vidhyan expressed faith in the police, ruling out a demand for roping in another agency for investigation on Friday.
Mr. Vidhyan said he had faith in the Panangad Station House Officer (SHO) and expressed hope that the case would be investigated diligently. He added that his only grievance was that the police had let off the accused believing their account after being summoned after his son had gone missing. He, however, expressed doubt whether the SHO was aware of that development.
Meanwhile, the habeas corpus petition filed by Mr. Vidhyan on the disappearance of his son was closed after the case came up in the High Court on Friday as the body was recovered from a swamp near Nettoor on Wednesday.
The police are now planning to seek the custody of the accused, who have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, by next week. “The preliminary investigation stands wrapped up, and as of now, there are no further suspects in the case. Once we receive their custody, they will be taken around for evidence collection,” said an officer involved in the investigation.
The police are looking at tracking the movements of the accused prior and after the crime.
Their telephone call records will also come under the scanner to verify whether a conspiracy was hatched immediately before the crime and for cover-up afterwards. The police have already recovered the wooden planks and concrete pieces, which were allegedly used by the accused to bludgeon the victim to death.
Four persons were arrested in connection with the alleged murder of Arjun on Thursday, a day after his body was recovered from a swamp near the abandoned Nettoor railway station.
According to the police, the murder was allegedly committed on account of the vengeance of one of the accused.