KOCHI: Kochi police arrested six more persons on Tuesday over the murder of 33-year-old Jibin Varghese, who was killed for allegedly having an extramarital affair with a married woman. A total of thirteen persons have been arrested so far in connection with the case.

The arrested include prime accused Anees (34), who is a resident of Aluva in Ernakulam district. The other arrested include Vazhakala resident Azeez (47), Kakkanad native KA Nizar (30), Vazhakala resident KP Salam (42) and Kakkanad residents, KP Hasainer (37) and UH Shihab (33). The accused were presented in the court on Wenesday.
The arrest comes a day after Kochi police arrested seven others who were involved in the crime. The police are now in search of one more person who was also involved in the crime. He is believed to have surrendered before Thrikkakara ACP on Wednesday. The police will petition today for the custody of others who have been remanded.

Jibin was murdered over an alleged love affair with a woman in the family of one of the accused persons. After murdering the victim, the accused had created an accident scene at Vennala-Palachuvadu road in Kochi to cover up the crime.

The incident occurred just a day after the new city Police Commissioner, S Surendran took charge in Kochi. Police officials who reached the Palachuvadu road where Jibin was found dead, immediately suspected that the accident was staged. The investigation officers were divided into 20 teams headed by the city police commissioner.
Police have recovered the weapons including hammer used from Olakkuzhi and they were purportedly used for the murder. The dhoti used mop the blood and the rope used to tie him were also recovered.
According to police, one of the accused persons had invited Jibin through the woman’s WhatsApp account. Based on investigation, it was found that Jibin, who hailed from Kakkanad, had visited the house of one of the accused Aseez at 12 midnight on March 9.

Jibin jumped the back compound wall of his lover’s house and entered through the back door. The killers who was waiting inside caught hold of him and tied him to the staircase for three hours and beaten up to death.

There were more than 50 injuries on his body. The blood due to fracture of ribs resulted in his death. The killers then shifted the body in an auto rickshaw and dump it on roadside. They also tilted Jibin’s scooter on to the road near his body to create the feeling that it was accident.