Stephan Kayyar

Daijiworld Media Network – Kasargod (EP)

Kasargod, Feb 2: The team investigating the Zubaida murder case has arrested two accused and recovered five and half sovereign gold and two cars stolen from the victim’s house.

It may be recalled, 60-year-old Zubaida, a resident of Uduma Ayyampara was found murdered at her house on January 19.

The arrested are identified as Kunjaru Kotekani, Madhur Patla resident K M Abdul Khader (26) and Kudrepadi resident Abdul Azeez alias Bava Azeez (23).

Revealing details at Kasargod SP's office, North zone ADGP Rajesh Diwan said that four people are involved in the crime out of which two are absconding at present. He said, “The accused had been to Zubaida's house for construction-related work several times. Once acquainted with Zubaida, they asked her for a house on rent. The accused reached Zubaida's house in a rented car from Kasargod on January 16. While she was showing them the quarters, the accused observed the surroundings and the premises. The accused again visited Zubaida’s house on January 17 in a car, but found the house locked. When the accused noticed Zubaida going towards her house on their way back, they followed her. While accused Khader and Azeez entered the house, the other two remained in the car,"

“As the accused were known to Zubaida, she invited them inside and offered them juice to drink. Soon after, Khader and Azeez held a cloth laced with chloroform on her face. As she became unconscious, they strangled her neck and killed her. They tied her hands and legs and robbed the jewelry she was wearing. They ransacked the cupboards in the house, locked the front door with a lock found in the house and fled in the car. The stolen gold was sold by the accused to a jewelry workshop at Kasargod and the cash was shared among them. As they had seen gold ornaments on Zubedia, the accused had assumed that there would be more gold in the house and executed the robbery," he added.

“The involvement of two people was certain as the juice offered to the accused was left on the table. The accused had fled to Bengaluru after the crime,” he said.

Cracking the case was quite a challenge for the police. They had investigated through various angles and looked into nearly 75,000 telephone calls. The case was solved with the help of cyber crime cell. The police had seen the suspected car in the afternoon on January 17. Therefore, they verified calls from that afternoon. The police gathered enough details to arrest and question the accused.

Kasargod district police head K G Simon, Kanhangad DySP K Damodaran, Bekala police station's U V K Vishwambharan, C K Sunil Kumar, Abdul Rahim and others were part of the investigating team.