Thiruvananthapuram: The police on Friday recovered the weapon used by the accused, Adam Ali, for murdering a retired government official at Kesavadasapuram here last Sunday.

The knife which was used to murder Manorama, 68, was recovered from a nearby gutter.

Local residents attempted to assault the accused when he was brought to the site of murder for evidence collection. The police had to use force to control the crowd.

West Bengal native Adam Ali, 21, had murdered the elderly woman at her home in Kesavadasapuram and dumped her body in a nearby well.

Ali, a migrant worker, frequented Manorama's house with his colleagues to fetch water from their well. He killed her while her husband was away at their daughter's residence in Varkala. He escaped with stolen cash and ornaments from the house but was nabbed by the police from Chennai in a day's time.