NEDUMKANDAM: The death of a thief who fled during a robbery attempt was proved to be murder.The deceased has been identified as 56-year old Joseph, a native of Vattapara in Senapathy Panchayat. The Udambanchola police have arrested auto-driver Rajendran of Konnakkaparambu, Chemmannar. He confessed to the police that he killed Joseph, who attempted to rob from his house.

Joseph was strangled to death. The post-mortem report stated that the cause of death was the fractured neck bones which caused breathing difficulty. The incident took place between 4-5 am on Tuesday. The suspect was captured in the investigation conducted by the special investigation team.

According to the police, Joseph broke the back door of Rajendran's house and entered. Meanwhile, Rajendran woke up hearing a noise and Joseph ran outside. Rajendran ran after him. A scuffle broke out between the two in the yard of another house 150 meters away. Joseph was killed in the fight.

Rajendran had initially testified that Joseph escaped after biting him and had stolen the gold ornaments kept inside the house. But the police had earlier received evidences of a scuffle at the place.