NEDUMANGAD: A tipper lorry driver was stabbed to death in front of his mother, wife, and children after being called out of his house at night. The incident occurred at Nedumpara in Enikkara, Karakulam on Friday night. The deceased is Enikkara native Sajan (31). The attack was carried out by Sajan's neighbour Jithin (32), and his relatives Mahesh (31) and Ratheesh (34). Ratheesh is the husband of Jithin’s sister. It was Jithin who fatally stabbed Sajan.

After being deeply stabbed, Sajan ran about 50 meters before collapsing in the nearby street. The perpetrators fled in a car parked on the roadside as people gathered after hearing the commotion.

Neighbours rushed Sajan to a private hospital in Karakulam and then to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital. Despite undergoing emergency surgery and being placed on a ventilator, he died at around 4 AM on Saturday. According to the police, Jithin carried out the murder out of suspicion that his wife was having an affair with Sajan. Police say that Jithin's wife had handed over her gold to Sajan to be pledged.

The accused, who went into hiding after the incident, were tracked down by the police under the leadership of Nedumangad DySP Arun KS. They were taken into custody from an abandoned house in Manakkad Paruthikuzhi on Saturday morning. The police also seized the car used by the accused. The team that apprehended the accused included Valiyamala CI Pramod Krishnan, Nedumangad SIs Austin Denison and Santosh Kumar. The arrests were recorded yesterday, and the accused will be presented in court today. After the inquest and post-mortem, the body was handed over to the family and was buried at Santhi Kavadam in Thycaud in the evening. Sajan is survived by his wife Shilpa, a five-year-old son and a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.