Ever since the local church recently stepped in to resolve tensions between the families of Kalamparamban Poly and his former neighbour Kilukkan Jose over the murder of the former’s father eight years ago, Ayyampuzha village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district had been at ease. Poly was busy getting his house painted for daughter’s wedding next month, and the village thought the tensions had been put to rest.
So, when Poly, an ex-serviceman now working with a security agency, pulled out a gun and shot Jose earlier this week, a ripple of shock went through Ayyampuzha.
“There had been minor skirmishes between the duo in the past. But recently, things look positive after a local parish priest stepped in to heal the wounds of both families. Jose had shared his regret over the murder with others and everyone thought Poly would put the past behind,” Jaya, a former panchayat member, said. “Nobody expected that Poly would take on Jose at this stage.”
On Monday, Poly, 57, was arrested for the murder of Jose. According to police, anger had been simmering in Poly since last year, when a trial court had convicted the 54-year-old Jose to a year in jail—a sentence Poly allegedly found inadequate.
On Monday evening, while Jose was bathing with his 11-year-old son in a small river near his house at Manjapra, Poly, who was passing that way, stopped his bike. After a brief altercation with Jose, Poly took out his gun and fired a shot at his father’s murderer. Jose tried to escape, but Poly fired two more shots. Jose collapsed into the river and died. Terrified, the son ran home screaming, while a composed Poly went to the nearby Ayyampuzha police station, where he confessed to the crime with little regret.
Jose was a driver with the state-run transport corporation, while ex-serviceman Poly worked with a private agency providing security for an agency engaged in ATM cash refilling. On Tuesday, he was remanded in judicial custody. Police will move an application seeking his custody.
Station House Officer Josy T K said: “Poly does not have any sense of guilt. He said the moment he saw Jose, the thought of revenge engulfed his mind. He stopped the bike and took out the gun and fired at him. Since he was working with a private agency providing security for ATM cash refilling service, Poly used to carry gun”.
Quoting Poly’s statements, the inspector said the accused harboured a desire for revenge against his father’s killer.
“Whenever he saw Jose, Poly said he used to get agitated. On that day, he says he cannot take food and cannot sleep. He is haunted by the image of his father Jose lying on their farm. He felt his father did not get justice,” said the inspector.
The officer said Poly claimed that he had undergone counselling at a leading Kochi hospital, but still longed for the blood of his father’s killer.
Both Jose and Poly had lived as next-door neighbours in Uppukallu village under Ayyampuzha panchayat for generations. The dispute that led to the murder of Poly’s father Jose was over drawing water from a pond for irrigation.
“Three families were using a single pond. There was a petty dispute over the alignment of the pipe to different plots. On February 18, 2018, at the height of a heated argument, Jose took a tapioca stem and beat Poly’s father Jose, who was 75 years old. He died a few days later. Apart from Jose, his elder brother Devassikutty was also arrested, but the court had convicted only Jose, who had beaten the aged man,” said Jaya Francis, a villager.
Locals recalled that while the trial was on, both had engaged in scuffles even on court premises. Last year, when the court sentenced Jose to one year of imprisonment, he did not have to go to jail as he had already spent nearly a year in judicial custody earlier. Poly would repeatedly say that, as a son, “he couldn’t do anything”.
“Jose had regretted the incident, which was not a premeditated murder. Recently, Jose took a house on rent at Manjapra and shifted there to avoid the difficulty of seeing Poly every day,” former panchayat member Jaya said.
