THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The man, who killed a youth using an earthmover after the latter resisted illegal mining from his compound at Kattakada, has surrendered before the police. Charupara Saju, the owner of the JCB, has been booked by the police along with six others for brutally murdering 36-year-old Sangeeth Balan.
After making four initial arrests, Anish and Lal Kumar were taken into custody on Sunday. Vijin, who was reportedly operating the JCB, was arrested on Friday itself.
Balan of Sreemangalam in Keezharooril was killed by the sand mafia on Friday morning.
The Kattakada police have registered a case against the six persons involved in the incident, and will further conduct a forensic examination to find out how Sangeeth was killed with the earthmover.
The sand mafia reportedly barged into Sangeeth's house in his absence. He rushed home when his wife called him about the trespassing.
On reaching home, Sangeeth blocked the earthmover and entered into an argument with the mafia and his men. The accused allegedly hit Sangeeth with the mechanical arm of the earthmover in front of his family.
Following this brawl, Sangeeth was taken to the hospital, where the doctors declared him dead-on-arrival. The family of the deceased have accused the police of inaction in Sangeeth's case who had informed them about the sand mafia gang,