KOCHI: Gopal Malik (22), accused in the double murder case in Muvattupuzha Adooparambu, was brought to Kerala after being arrested in Odisha. With a transit warrant from the Odisha Bisam Cuttack Court, he was taken to Muvattupuzha Court and remanded in police custody for 4 days. The investigation team arrived in Muvattupuzha around 1 pm yesterday.

Evidence collection is expected to be completed in the next few days. The victims' mobile phones were discovered in the accused's bag during interrogation in Odisha. Today, the phones and the clothes the accused was wearing during the incident will be sent for forensic examination.

Mohander Swargyari (40) and Dipankar Basmati (37), natives of Assam and timber mill workers in Adooparambu, were killed in their residence on Nov 4. According to Gopal Malik's statement, a drunken argument among the four, including another mill worker, led to the murder. Malik claimed that he was angered by the constant disappearance of money from the residence. After committing the murder, Malik stayed in the room until three in the morning, then took buses to Aluva and Chennai. He changed trains and reached Raiguda in Odisha. His plan was to enter Baliguda via Miniguda. However, based on information from Aluva Rural SP Vivek Kumar, Miniguda police arrested him and handed him over to the investigation team.