Karuvatta murder: Accused planned to kill elderly man with stone through roof; inspired by ‘Spyder’

Haripad: The state remains shocked by the murder of an elderly man in Karuvatta, Alappuzha, where the accused had allegedly planned to kill him by breaking the roof tiles and dropping a large stone on his head.

The girl who allegedly commissioned the murder had ensured that a large stone was kept near the house and informed the accused about it. However, the tiled house had a ceiling that thwarted their plan. They eventually entered the house through the rear of the toilet and allegedly suffocated Sivankutty to death.

One of the accused is believed to have suggested the method, reportedly inspired by the 2017 Tamil film Spyder. In the film, a child kills people by dropping stones on them from above. The accused allegedly planned to replicate this method, believing it would help them avoid the difficulties involved in a direct killing.

The accused reached the rented house where Sivankutty lived at around 9.30pm on Saturday and first climbed onto the roof. They removed tiles at several places to find a suitable spot. However, after realising that the stone could not be dropped because of the ceiling, they tried to enter through a section without a ceiling. That attempt also failed.

School-time acquaintance led to crime

The deceased, Sivankutty Chettiar, and the three minor accused are all natives of Paravur. The three accused reportedly come from economically disadvantaged families.

Police found that one of the accused had been acquainted with the girl who allegedly commissioned the murder since their school days, when they were living in Paravur. Their relationship is believed to have led to the involvement of the other two in the crime.

Sivankutty and his wife had moved to Karuvatta two years ago. Known as a peace-loving man, he was well regarded by local residents. A CPM activist, he regularly participated in party activities.

He used to visit his house in Paravur once a month. His son had died by suicide years ago, after which Sivankutty lived with his two daughters. He moved away from Paravur after his daughters moved to Alappuzha.

The family learnt about the murder only when police arrived at their house recently while searching for the main accused. The accused had reportedly not left the house since the incident.

Attempt to mislead police with fake gold

The arrested teenagers also allegedly tried to mislead police by producing fake gold. They had stolen a necklace, a ring and a thali (wedding pendant) from the house where the murder took place.

The accused had sold the ring to a local jewellery shop. When questioned initially, they allegedly showed police a similar ring made of fake gold. Suspicious of their claim, Haripad police questioned them further, following which they confessed to having sold the actual ring for Rs 16,000.

Police recovered the ring from the shop. The thali and necklace were recovered from the houses of the accused and taken into police custody.