Abhiram murder: 17-year-old was killed between 6 pm and 8 pm, postmortem reveals

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More details have emerged regarding the murder of 17-year-old Abhiram at Pangappara in Sreekaryam. According to the postmortem report, he was killed between 6 pm and 8 pm. The police have formed a special team to investigate the murder. The team is led by the Sreekaryam Circle Inspector, with the Kazhakkoottam ACP supervising the investigation.

The police took one more person into custody on Tuesday in connection with the murder and disposal of Abhiram's body in a sack. The person is Aishwarya, a native of Akkulam and the girlfriend of Umar, a local criminal. She reportedly had prior knowledge of the crime.

The police had earlier arrested three people in the case: a 17-year-old boy, his girlfriend Anantha (18), and Umar (21), a local criminal. The 17-year-old is the first accused, Umar the second and Anantha the third. The murder was allegedly motivated by jealousy over a relationship. The 17-year-old strangled Abhiram to death using a belt and later called Umar to help dispose of the body.

According to the investigation, Abhiram was summoned to Pangappara, where the murder took place, using Anantha's phone. The 17-year-old had initially planned to kill one of Abhiram's friends. He allegedly intended to threaten Abhiram and force him to bring the friend to the spot. However, the friend did not turn up despite Abhiram's call. The accused then killed Abhiram instead. The 17-year-old had allegedly planned the murder following a dispute involving his former girlfriend.

Abhiram left home around 3 pm on Sunday, saying that a friend had called him. When his father contacted him later, Abhiram said he would return soon. However, his phone was switched off afterwards. As he did not return even late at night, his father and relatives lodged a complaint with the Sreekaryam police.

A probe based on Abhiram's mobile phone details, with the help of the cyber cell, revealed that he had left home after receiving a call through Instagram from someone using a female voice. The police then examined the phone calls and questioned several people in connection with the case. Based on the information received, the police had earlier taken the 17-year-old, two other people and a girl into custody for questioning before releasing them. They were summoned again for questioning on Monday, which eventually led to a crucial breakthrough in the investigation.

The accused confessed that they had called Abhiram to the spot, kicked him down and killed him. They then stuffed his body into a sack and dumped it in an isolated bush near Perur Junction at Pangappara. The police subsequently recovered the body.