Thiruvananthapuram: Police conducted evidence collection with Umar Muqthar, the second accused in the murder of M D Abhiram, on Sunday, during which the accused denied any involvement in the crime and claimed that he did not even know the victim.During the evidence collection at Pangappara, Umar said he had never known Abhiram and had not visited the place where the alleged murder took place. He claimed that he had been falsely implicated in the case.However, the police have taken Umar’s statements as an attempt to evade responsibility in the case. They suspect that the accused had given misleading and conflicting statements following the murder in an alleged attempt to derail the probe.The police also suspect that the 17-year-old first accused and Umar had acted with a clear understanding of the legal implications of murder. They are examining whether the accused deliberately altered their versions of events and concealed crucial evidence to confuse the police.The recovery of Abhiram’s mobile phone remains one of the biggest challenges before the investigating team. The first accused had reportedly told the police that the phone was thrown into a nearby stream after the murder. Based on this statement, a scuba team conducted a search in the waterbody but failed to recover the device.However, during questioning, Umar reportedly gave a different version, claiming that the phone had been discarded in a nearby wooded area. The police are now examining this claim and continuing efforts to trace the phone.The team believes the mobile phone could provide crucial evidence in establishing the sequence of events leading to the murder. According to the police, the accused allegedly contacted Abhiram through Instagram and was asked to reach the location before he was murdered.The belt suspected to have been used to strangulate him has also not been recovered. The police are also trying to trace his watch and shoes.The conflicting statements of the accused have further strengthened suspicion that attempts may have been made to conceal or destroy material evidence. The police are planning to question Umar in detail before taking him to the isolated location where the murder allegedly took place for further evidence collection.
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