Five engineering students, into custody in connection with the murder of Harihara Varma

Five engineering students were among five arrested here Saturday in connection with the murder of diamond trader and royal family member Harihara Varma on December 24. Additional Director General of Police A Hemachandran told reporters here that all of those arrested were from Kerala. They identified the accused as M. Jithesh, 33; V. Ajeesh, 27; Rakhil, 24; Jitesh’s cousin, Rakesh, 21; and J. Joseph, 20. They hail from lower middle class families in Kannur and Kozhikode districts and were part of a fraternity of Malayali students in Bangalore. Joseph is the son of a planter in Karnataka. All are first offenders with no previous police record.

The ADGP said robbery was the motive behind the murder and added that media reports putting the value of the stolen diamonds at Rs 300 crore was not correct. "The diamonds taken away from him on that date were not as valued as reported in the media," he said. Harihara Varma, 55, a member of the Poojar Royal family, was found murdered in his house at Puthoorkonam at nearby Vattiyoorkavu. Police had received vital clues from the driver of the car in which they went to Varma's house posing as buyers of diamond. The incident came to light after one Haridas, an advocate by profession and who claimed to be a mediator for the trade, informed police about the murder. The Kerala government had set up a special police team, headed by DCP Putta Vimaladitya, to probe the case.