Kerala hotelier murder: a honey trap case, 3 arrested

The hotelier was murdered after the honey trap plan went amiss.

Malappuram:Kerala Police said that a honey trap laid out by the three accused was the reason behind the brutal murder of hotelier Siddique in Kozhikode. The accused, who had invited Siddique to the hotel and killed him after the trap went awry, have been arrested, Malappuram Police Superintendent Sujith Das said.

Police found Siddique's chopped body parts in a trolley bag from Agali in Attapadi on May 26. The hotelier was murdered at a lodge in Kozikode's Eranhipalam nine days back.

According to the police, the accused Shibili (22), who worked at Siddique's hotel, his friend Farhana (18) and Farhana's friend Ashiq, planned to extort money from the hotelier by taking his nude pictures. As per the plan, they invited Siddique to the lodge. Siddique arrived at the lodge but resisted when asked to strip naked. This led to a fight, during which Farhana brought a hammer and handed it to Shibli, who hit Siddique on his head. Ashiq laid him on the floor and hit on his chest.

The post-mortem report stated that Siddique died after a brutal assault. He was kicked on the chest due to which he faced difficulty in breathing and his ribs were broken, police said adding that he suffered injuries all over the body. He had lost consciousness after being hit on the head, police added.

After Siddique died, the accused chopped his body parts with an electric cutter and dumped the pieces in the trolley bag. The footage of the body being kept in a car after being chopped and carried in a trolley bag was released yesterday. Police also confirmed that the accused had kept a knife and a hammer in their bag to assault Siddique if he resisted.

Siddique had gone missing on May 18 and his phone was also switched off . On May 22, his son filed a missing complaint with the police. During investigation, police found out that Shibili, who was an employee of Siddique's hotel, was also missing. Police also received information that Siddique had taken a room in a lodge in Kozhikode's Eranjipalam.

In the meantime, the family members informed police that money had been withdrawn from Siddique's bank account since the day he went missing. The accused went absconding and were detained with the help of railway police.