Kottayam (Kerala), Apr 23 (PTI) A suspect in the brutal murder of a businessman and his wife in Thiruvathukkal here was taken into custody within 24 hours of the crime, police said on Wednesday.

Amit Urang, a native of Assam, was apprehended from a poultry farm near Mala in Thrissur district, according to police.

Vijayakumar (64), a well-known businessman who owned an auditorium and ran several other establishments, and his wife Meera (60) were found murdered in their house on Tuesday.

Both were discovered in a pool of blood in different rooms. Their bodies bore deep cuts and facial injuries.

Police said the suspect was taken into custody from a location where several persons from Assam were staying.

A team led by Kottayam Superintendent of Police Shahul Hameed is investigating the case.

Preliminary reports suggest revenge as the motive behind the murders.

After the crime, Urang allegedly stole the couple’s mobile phones. One of the phones was later switched on, which helped police trace his location.

“The suspect’s use of Vijayakumar’s phone played a crucial role in tracking his movements,” a police official said.

Urang reportedly fled the scene and moved across multiple districts to evade arrest.

He first travelled by train from Kottayam to Ernakulam, then took a bus to Perumbavoor, and later proceeded to Mala, police said.

However, police monitored his movements and apprehended him at a poultry farm in Meladoor near Mala.

Soon after the murders, he had checked into a lodge near the Kottayam railway station. From there, he began his escape.

Police found that Urang had previously been arrested and remanded for nearly five months in a financial fraud case, during which he had used Vijayakumar’s phone.

Urang had worked at Vijayakumar’s house and auditorium earlier and may have stolen the phone during that time, police said.

Investigators believe a personal setback—his girlfriend ending their relationship while he was in jail—may have played a key role in his motive.

Three others, including Urang’s brother, have also been taken into custody.

Police said two women helped Urang secure bail in the earlier case, and that they are probing whether they were paid.

Police maintained the murders were premeditated and meticulously executed.

Urang had checked into a lodge in Kottayam the previous Saturday and spent the following days surveilling the couple’s routine and surroundings, sources said.

Police conducted evidence collection at the crime scene on Wednesday evening with Urang, who was brought to Kottayam earlier that day.

As part of the investigation, officers recovered the CCTV system’s data recorder, which Urang had thrown into a nearby canal to destroy evidence.

He was also questioned by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team currently probing the 2018 death of Vijayakumar’s son, Gautham.

Gautham, a BTech graduate, was found dead on railway tracks in Kottayam with multiple injuries. While local police initially classified it as suicide, Vijayakumar contested the finding in the High Court, which recently ordered a CBI probe into the matter. PTI ARM SSK ARM SSK SA