Published Nov 06, 2026 | 1:15 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 06, 2026 | 1:15 PM
Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala visited Abhiram's house on November 5.
The murder of 17-year-old Abhiram, a Plus One student from Pangappara, appears to have involved a carefully laid plan to lure him to his death and dispose of his body at another location.
Interrogation of the four accused has helped the police piece together the sequence of events and the alleged conspiracy behind the killing.
Aishwarya, the fourth accused and a friend of the second accused, Umar, reportedly told investigators that the group had planned to transport Abhiram’s body elsewhere after ensuring that he was dead. The plan was to stuff the body into a sack, load it into a vehicle and dispose of it at a different location. In preparation, the first accused, a 17-year-old boy, allegedly purchased a plastic sack from a scrap shop in Sreekaryam for Rs 30.
The shop owner has identified the teenager.
However, heavy rain on the night of the murder reportedly disrupted the plan. The accused eventually abandoned the body, placed inside the sack, in an overgrown plot where the murder took place and fled.
Investigators suspect that the murder was linked to a grudge over the circulation of private visuals of the third accused, Ananda, an 18-year-old.
The accused allegedly believed that a friend of Abhiram had circulated the visuals. Abhiram was reportedly used as an intermediary to lure the intended target, but the plan eventually resulted in his murder.
The police suspect that 22-year-old Umar, the second accused, played the central role in planning the crime. He had reportedly left his mobile phone at home before reaching the crime scene and avoided the main road, which had surveillance cameras, taking a route through an area near a marsh instead
Investigators have also found that Umar allegedly kept a call going on his phone from the time he left home until his return. Police suspect that this was a deliberate attempt to create a misleading trail and provide a possible defence against the charges.
He is also reported to have been previously booked in a case under the Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act (KAAPA).
Despite the disclosures, recovering crucial evidence remains a major challenge for the investigation.
The mobile phones of Abhiram, Ananda and the first accused, along with the clothes worn during the incident, are yet to be traced. The accused have reportedly told investigators that the items were dumped in a stream. A search operation involving a scuba diving team has so far failed to recover the articles.
The four accused in the case have also given conflicting statements, adding to the difficulties faced by the investigating team. The police are continuing efforts to piece together the alleged conspiracy, establish the individual roles of the accused and recover the missing evidence.
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Abhiram murder: Another friend was intended target, accused tells police
(With inputs from Dileep V Kumar. Edited by R Rajesh Kumar.)
