Coimbatore atheist’s murder: Two more surrender, total detainees now 5

H Farook was hacked to death on Thursday night. Police believe he was attacked by a gang of six people, who hacked and stabbed the DVK member near his house in Coimbatore.

Two more people surrendered before the judicial magistrate court in Coimbatore on Monday, four days after the murder of H Farook, a rationalist and atheist and a Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam member, bringing the total number of people detained in the case to five.

H Farook was hacked to death by a gang of six people near his house in Coimbatore.(Representational Photo)

Samsudeen -- a friend of the victim, Farook -- and Saddam Hussain were remanded in judicial custody till April 3.

M Ansath, a 30-year-old realtor, had earlier turned himself in, while police have detained two other suspects -- Akram, 30, and Munaf, 38.

According to police sources, Hussain and Samsudeen both have pending murder cases against them. Hussain is also related to Kisan Bukhari, the key accused in a bomb blast case in Bengaluru.

“We are in the initial stages of inquiry. So far, there is no evidence to suggest a direct link between the blast accused and this murder,” a police officer said, adding that there was no evidence to suggest that Farook’s murder was linked to a terrorist or extremist group.

H Farook (31) was hacked to death on Thursday night after he received a phone call at 11pm. Police believe he was attacked by a gang of six people, who hacked and stabbed the DVK member near his house in Coimbatore.

A committed rationalist and atheist, Farook ran a few WhatsApp groups on which he would post messages debating the existence of god.

While police are still unclear about the motive behind the killing, officers believe that the atheist’s messages posted and shared regularly on social media may have resulted in his death.

Three police teams have been formed to investigate Farook’s murder.