A 19-year-old man was killed by a gang and the body was abandoned in front of a police station by the gang leader at Kottayam district of Kerala on Monday.
The police suspect that it was an act of show of strength by a notorious person of the locality identified as Jomon K Jose, who was later nabbed by the police. The deceased was identified as Shan Babu, 19.
The incident triggered criticism against the police as the mother of the deceased alleged that though she alerted the police on Sunday night that her son was abducted, the cops failed to prevent the murder. But the police denied the allegation of inaction.
Jose was said to have carried Babu's body on his shoulder and abandoned it in front of the Kottayam East police station during the early hours of the Monday. There were injury marks on Babu's body.
District police chief D Shilpa said that the incident seemed to be a show of strength by Jose as he had lost prominence among the gooda gangs in the district as he was banned from entering the district by invoking provisions of the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
He was learnt to have obtained a relaxation in the ban recently from the appeal committee of the KAAPA by citing that he was the lone breadwinner of his family.
Police said that over a dozen criminal cases were pending against the accused. The present murder was also suspected to be part of the rivalry among the drug trafficking rackets in the district.
Opposition Congress alleged that the police was failing to curb the anti-social elements.
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