Cheeratta Mala (Perinthalmanna): The investigation team probing the gruesome murder of Siddique Mechery, a hotelier from Tirur, has recovered key evidence, including the victim’s clothes and materials used for evidence destruction, that would turn crucial in proving the role of the three youths arrested in the case.

While Siddique’s chopped-up body parts were recovered from Agali in Attappadi on May 26, a week after he was murdered in cold blood at a hotel in Eranhipalam, Kozhikode, the accused disposed of his clothes, the electric cutter used to cut the body into three parts, and other evidence at Cheeratta Mala, a sparsely populated tourist spot located 5 km from Angadipuram, a major suburb of Perinthalmanna town.

On Saturday noon, the locals were surprised to see a large contingent of police vehicles moving towards the Cheeratta Malai viewpoint. They were completely unaware that the cops were attempting to unearth crucial evidence in connection with the chilling murder of 58-year-old hotelier Siddique, who walked into a honey trap and lost his life.

The investigation team led by Malappuram Police Chief S Sujith Das took the accused — Shibili (22), a former employee at Siddique’s hotel; Farhana (18), and Ashique — towards Angadipuram.

The cops also collected evidence from an ATM counter from where the trio withdrew money.

The team reached Cheeratta Mala around 1.15 pm and began to collect the evidence by 1.30 pm. It was Farhana, Shibili’s friend, who correctly pointed towards the spot where the accused had disposed of the covers, containing the materials.

The accused were brought in tight police security and a woman cop had tightly held her left hand then. Five minutes later, they came across the first bundle, a yellow cover containing the evidence materials, and packed with a black cover. The cops recovered two ATM cards, a 'turkey' towel, a blood-stained bed sheet, and a knife. Soon they found the electric cutter and two blades, one broken. The hammer, with which Farhana hit the victim’s head, was also recovered a little distance away. Siddique’s jeans and other materials were also found in a rubber field, some 300 metres away.

While the accused had disposed of all the covers in one place, the cops came to the assessment that some dogs or other animals might have strewn it around. A pillow cover with the name of the lodge ‘De Casa Inn’ printed on it, the sandals of Siddique, and the hand gloves used to chop up the victim’s body were all recovered from there.

Soon the news got leaked, and the residents began to assemble at the spot. The police then shifted Farhana to the jeep. Farhana answered all the queries put by the investigation officers with no remorse and a stubborn face.

The Forensic and fingerprint experts examined each and every piece of evidence in detail before carefully packing them in a plastic cover and put into a big shopper. The police team finally returned from the spot, collecting all the crucial evidence.

Secluded area
Shibili, who earlier worked with Siddique’s restaurant at Olavanna, Kozhikode, knew the place well and it was he who suggested disposing of the clothes and other evidence materials at the uninhabited Cheeratta Mala, covered with thick bushes. He told the police that he used to come to the place earlier to consume drugs.

Shibili used to even indulge in narcotic sales when he was residing in Angadipuram. He used to frequent the deserted Cheeratta Mala-Cherumala road to carry out the deals, police said.

There is no house on both sides for a 1 km stretch towards Cheeratta Mala viewpoint. Certain people used to arrive here at midnight and in the wee hours, said locals in the vicinity.

A woman had recently knocked on the door of a house the other day, requesting a glass of drinking water.

Vehicles often arrive here to dump human waste in the seclude area with rubber plantations and thick bushes.

Shibili might have thought that no one would notice the covers if the same was disposed of there. However, local residents said they cleared a part of the bushes last week.

Hotelier Siddique was murdered on May 18 after Farhana lured him into a honey trap and asked him to come to the hotel. When he reached there, the trio pinned him on the ground, hit his head with a hammer, and kicked his chest repeatedly until he died after he refused their direction to take off his clothes and pose nude for a picture with the intention of extorting money from him.