Thiruvananthapuram: Fugitive soldier held for murder

Thiruvananthapuram: Police arrested, Akhil the first accused and Rahul, the second accused in the Rakhi Mol murder case, on Saturday.

While Akhil the first accused and the lover of Rakhi Mol, was arrested from Thiruvananthapuram Airport in the night while returning from Delhi, Rahul his brother was picked him up from Malayankeezhu while on his way back from Thrissur in the morning.

Though Akhil had shaved of his moustache to hide his identity, police zeroed on him as they had information about his arrival. Adarsh, the third accused and a friend of Akhil,  was also arrested earlier.

Akhil, who worked with the Indian Army, had earlier told reporters over the phone that he joined duty in Ladakh on June 29. But army authorities denied it. They had recently transferred him from Ladakh to Delhi.

He had telephoned some media houses saying that he will surrender after reaching the state soon.

Though Kerala police team had reached Delhi to arrest Akhil, they could not trace him. There were reports that he was in Dehradun.

Body of Rakhil Mol (30), a native of Poovar who went missing on June 21, was recovered from the plot he owns in Amboori on July 24. Further investigation found that her lover Akhil strangled her with the help of Rahul and Adarsh.

According to the police, Rahul has confirmed his involvement in the murder, and the cops took him to the spot of the crime in Amboori.

He used the vehicle of another soldier named Ratheesh from Thripparappu, which the police found washed several times to destroy traces of evidence.

Akhil used to take this car whenever he was around. After he went back to Delhi, it was his brother who returned the vehicle to Thripparappu. Rakhi disappeared since June 21. Rajan, the father of Rakhi Mol, meanwhile, accused his parents also of having a role in the murder.

“It is impossible to believe that the body would not have been buried behind the house under construction without the knowledge of Akhil’s parents,” he said.

The over smartness by the accused helped the police in cracking the case. Rakhi’s phone had a fingerprint lock. As a result, after the burial, they could not unlock her phone.

So, they inserted her SIM card in a second-hand phone to send a message to a friend that she had broken up with Akhil and was on her way to Chennai with another man.

Akhil’s relatives had attached the printout of these messages to a complaint against the police of harassment in the name of investigation.

However, the last tower location of the phone was in Amboori. The police found that they bought the phone from a shop in Amboori.