3 friends held in connection with rationalist Farook’s murder

The accused have been identified as Abdul Munaf and Jaffer, both from Podanur and Akram Jindha of Ukkadam in the city. The trio were said to be friends of the victim. Three others who surrendered earlier were Saddam Hussain, Samsudeen and Arshanth, all residents of Podanur. The police have confirmed that Farook was murdered for spreading atheistic ideologies. Inquiries revealed that the main reason behind the murder was the difference of opinion among the friends over Farook’s atheistic ideologies. 

Inquiries revealed that Farook was actively propagating his ideologies through the social media. He was also the administrator of a WhatsAapp group titled, ‘Allahu Murdhath,’ which had many likeminded persons attached to a particular faith. 

Farook had also recently posted a picture of his daughter holding a placards with the words ‘there is no god’ written in Tamil. 

This is said to have aggravated the accused who had earlier warned him to close or delete his WhatsApp group. Farook had received threat calls but he took them lightly. Shortly before he was murdered on Thursday night, he reportedly received a call from one of his friends (an accused in the present case), who said that his bike had ran out of fuel and was stranded near a Tasmac outlet at Ukkadam. He asked Farook to come and help him. 

Subsequently, around 11 pm while Farook was heading to the spot on his two-wheeler via sewage treatment plant road, he was intercepted by a gang and stabbed by the friend, who called him over phone. 

A senior police officer in the city claimed that the victim tried to escape, but the gang chased and stabled him multiple times on the abdomen and on his head with a machete. He succumbed on the spot. 

During investigations, it also came to light that one of the accused had intentionally enrolled himself in the DVK to monitor the activities and propaganda style of Farook. 

All the three persons arrested on Tuesday were booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) and 120(B) (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. 

The police said they would soon be taking the three others who surrendered earlier into custody for interrogation.