Thiruvathukkal twin murder: Assam native remanded in judicial custody
Amit Urang, the prime suspect in the Thiruvathukkal twin murder case, was remanded in judicial custody till May 8 after the police completed the first phase of investigation.
The police will soon seek his custody for detailed interrogation and evidence collection. Amit was arrested in connection with the murder of businessman and owner of Indraprastha auditorium T.K. Vijayakumar, 70, and his wife Meera, 67, at their residence in Thiruvathukkal, Kottayam, on April 22.
Amit, a former employee of Vijayakumar and a resident of Pithaguti in Dibrugarh district of Assam, told the police that his grudge against Vijayakumar stemmed from his inability to take care of his wife during her pregnancy as he had been jailed in a theft case. The accused also claimed that Vijayakumar treated him poorly.
'The accused had a personal enmity with Vijayakumar, stemming from his arrest in a theft case filed by the businessman. After he was accused in the theft case, his wife who was pregnant left him and had a miscarriage,' said A. Shahul Hameed, Kottayam District Police Chief.
He told the police that he had only intended to target Vijayakumar but was forced to kill Meera after she woke up on hearing the noise.
Amit claimed that he had stolen Vijayakumar's mobile phone after the later refused to pay his salary dues. After stealing the phone, he transferred the SIM card to his phone, installed Google Pay, and siphoned off ₹2.78 lakh from bank accounts linked to the number. When he tried to return the money upon his wife's insistence, he was informed by bank officials that it was part of a police case and could not be refunded.
After unsuccessfully attempting to persuade Vijayakumar to take back the money and withdraw the case, Amit resorted to violence. He initially tried to kill Vijayakumar by striking him on the head with a lamp. When this proved unsuccessful, he took an axe from inside the house and killed him.
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