Twin Murder: Imam sent to judicial custody

KASARGOD: Accused in the Devalokam twin murder case Imam Hussain, 52, was sent to judicial custody after he was presented before the First Class Judicial Magistrate on Sunday. The Kannur Crime Branch police arrested Hussain from Nelamangala in Bangalore on Friday night.

Imam Hussain is accused of murdering Srikrishna Bhat and his wife Shrimathi of ‘Devalokam’ on the night of October 9, 1993. Srikrishna’s body was found buried in a coconut garden and his wife’s body was found in the house. She had been strangled to death. Hussain fled after murdering the couple and also took away their valuables.

“The case was handed over to the Crime Branch in 2008. The arrest was made as a result of the joint operation of the Mangalore police and Nelamangala police. The investigation took us to various places as the accused had been floating around in Maharashtra and Shimoga, and for the past five years he had been staying in Nelamangala,” said DySP K V Santhosh, who led the investigation. “The accused was sent to judicial custody as the evidence collection had already been done in the morning. The accused rightly showed the place where he had buried Bhat. He also underwent medical examination at the Kasargod General Hospital,” the DySP added. There is a cheating case against the accused registered in Mangalore.

The police had submitted a request for holding an identification parade before three children of Bhat, two of the neighbours and the driver who dropped Hussain on the night. Hussain, who had been residing in a rented house at Nelamangala for the past seven years, was moving about under the name Tajuddeen. Hussain.