Murder accused found murdered

Malappuram (Kerala), Aug 24: One of the accused in the murder of a young man who had renounced Hinduism and embraced Islam was himself found murdered on Thursday near here in Kerala, police said.

Bipin Das, 25, a coconut climber, was out on bail in the murder case. A group of people, including children on their way to a madarsa, saw his badly slashed body near a road.

Faizal was murdered on November 19 last year. It was believed that he was killed because Faizal, who was earlier known as Anil Kumar alias Unni, had converted to Islam in the Middle East.

After Faizal's killing, police had arrested 16 people. Das was the second accused in that case.

After Faizal was murdered, a few of his close relatives also embraced Islam.

While the police on Thursday started a probe into Das' murder, they were tight-lipped about the motive or the likely suspects.