Aluva Athul, the primary convict in the murder of Gym Santosh, was hacked to death on Saturday by unidentified men in Kollam’s Karunagappally in alleged gang war.
A CCTV video emerged after the incident which showed a car being chased by a grey Innova before being rammed off the highway in a ditch.
The clip showed parts of under-construction stretch of the national highway where the incident reportedly took place.
In the video, a group of attackers could be seen emerging out of the car and attacking Athul, who was at bail in Gym Santosh murder case.
As per reports, Aluva Athul was returning from a police station after routine attendance at the station.
Although several passers-by stopped their vehicles at the spot, no one dared to move closer to intervene after seeing the weapons in the attackers’ hands.
Locals stepped in to help Athul only after the assailants had fled the scene, but by then he had already died from his injuries.
Athul was among those convicted for the murder of local gym owner Santosh, also known as “Gym Santosh,” in Karunagappally on March 27, 2025.
Santosh had previously been released on bail in a separate 2024 murder case.
According to investigators, a group of assailants, including Athul, stormed his residence and carried out the attack.
The gang allegedly used weapons such as a hoe, a machete, and an iron rod to kill him. Police later apprehended all those involved, and the accused were subsequently convicted in the case.
Athul was arrested last month, 21 days after the murder took place. He was apprehended by a joint team of the Karunagappally police and the DANSAF squad in Aluva.
According to police, after the murder Athul fled to Aluva. He later abandoned his family and escaped in another vehicle. After renting a vehicle in Thrissur, he travelled to Tamil Nadu.
Acting on intelligence that the accused was hiding in Tamil Nadu, the Karunagappally police and the DANSAF team launched a search in Tiruvallur. Police said he had been secretly staying near a temple in the area when he was tracked down.
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