PALAKKAD: When police caught Chenthamara, the accused in the double murder case in Nenmara, he demanded food first. The police knew that the accused was one who cannot bear hunger and would therefore reach home, and that exactly happened. Chenthamara was trapped when he reached the premises of his house to eat.

‘A police guard was there in front of Chenthamara's house. He did not have the health enough to stand straight. Should buy him food. He had only a string in his hand. It was cut and removed. He said he was hungry and wanted something to eat. It took four days to arrest him in the first murder. Today we arrested him within 48 hours. He is healthy. We checked his BP and also examined whether he had consumed poison. The locals also helped in the search. But did not seek the help of the locals for the night search. If they had been there, they would have beaten him to death,’ said the DySP.

Chenthamara was caught from Pothundi last night after a joint search by the police and locals. The search started in the morning. Around 7 pm, some locals saw Chenthamara near the Pothundi Mattayi temple. A cop also had seen him. Though a search was conducted till 9:30 pm, could not find him. He was found from Pothundi Hills by 10:30 pm.

Meantime, based on the report submitted by Palakkad District Police Chief Ajith Kumar to the Northern Region IG that there was a failure to prevent the Nenmara double murder, Nenmara SHO Mahendra Simhan was suspended. The action was taken for not informing the court that Chenthamara had violated his bail conditions. He was not allowed to enter the Nenmara panchayat or the police station limits. He stayed here in violation of this. The SHO explained that there was no copy of the bail order in the station. It is also a serious lapse not taking action despite the complaint filed by Sudhakaran and his daughter.