KOTTAYAM: In a shocking incident, a youth was beaten to death due to personal enmity in Kottayam. Ratheesh Madhavan (40), a Nellikunnu native was killed in the incident. The incident took place in Paduva at around 10 pm on Saturday. Accused Mattakkara native Sreejith (27) has been taken into custody by Pallickathodu police.

Ratheesh was returning from a funeral ceremony in a nearby house while Sreejith was hiding near the former’s house, planning to carry out an attack. When Ratheesh reached the house premises at 10:30 pm, Sreejith ambushed him and attacked.

The locals came to know about the incident only late into the night. Pallickathodu police were also informed about the incident. A team led by Kanjirappally DySP and Pallickathodu SHO KP Thomson took the accused into custody at night. Ratheesh's body was handed over to his relatives after post-mortem. The funeral will take place today at two o'clock in the afternoon. Police are conducting further investigation into the incident.