Kumbalangi murder: Accused removed organs of victim, filled it with sand

KOCHI: The police team, which nabbed the main accused in the murder of 39-year-old Lazar Antony whose body was found buried in marshy land at Kumbalangi, found the murder was brutal as the accused Biju had removed internal organs from victim’s stomach and filled it with sand to ensure that the body did not pop up from the marsh. 

City Police Commissioner Nagaraju Chakilam told reporters on Tuesday it was cold-blooded murder and the accused plotted it such that the victim had a painful death. “The victim’s rib cage was severely damaged and his wrists were broken. This showed he was subjected to severe physical assault. His internal organs were removed and filled with sand,” the commissioner said, adding, though Lazar went missing on July 9, it was only on July 15 that the police came to know about the missing case when his brother approached them with a missing complaint. It was a well-planned murder by prime accused Biju, wife Rakhi and two friends to avenge the physical assault Biju had suffered at the hands of Lazar four years ago. 

The partly submerged body of Lazar was spotted by local residents in a marsh on July 31. On the charge that the police refused to give an ear to locals who caught Biju and took him to the police after Lazar went missing, the commissioner said police couldn’t simply arrest a person based on hearsay. 

“Though the accused managed to flee after committing the crime, we managed to nab them from their hideouts. We conducted searches at Palakkad and Thrissur before nabbing the accused from a spot near Aroor,” he added.