Parking dispute leads to murder of lottery distributor in Thrissur

Thrissur: A 67-year-old man was hacked to death allegedly by a theatre owner and his goons at Mapranam near Irinjalakuda following disputes over parking. The police said the deceased has been identified as Valath Rajan, a lottery vendor.

The police said that the the gang had attacked Rajan at his house on Friday midnight and he succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Thrissur in the early hours of Saturday.

Vinu, son of Rajan, who was injured in the attack is undergoing treatment at the hospital. The police said there was a dispute between Rajan and the theatre owner, Sanjai of Irinjalakuda, on Friday evening over parking of vehicles coming to the theatre which is located near Rajan’s house.

Rajan had reportedly asked the theatre owner to remove the vehicles parked in front of his house. Subsequently, Sanjai and four of his associates had gate crashed into Rajan’s house and attacked him and his family. The Irinjalakuda ACP Famous Varghese said one of the accused, Manikandan (25) of Cherpu, has been taken into custody and a manhunt is on to nab the remaining accused, including Sanjai.

According to the investigating officials, Sanjai, who was absconding after the incident, is known to have gone out of state. The local residents, enraged by the murder of Rajan, had staged a blockade in front of the theatre in the morning. However, the police ensured that the protests did not become violent. The police asked the staff to keep the theatre closed until further orders. TNN