The Kollam City police on Wednesday arrested a Tamil Nadu native suspected of being a serial killer, following a brutal murder committed near the office of the District Police Chief (Kollam City).The accused, identified as Viju Suresh from Thuckalay, Tamil Nadu, was nabbed from Valparai by a special team led by the Kollam City Assistant Commissioner of Police.The arrest follows the gruesome murder of 65-year-old Rajendran, a lottery vendor, who was attacked while sleeping on a shop veranda at Mundakkal West on the night of May 24.Investigators strongly suspect the accused’s involvement in a similar unsolved murder that took place months ago at Parippally, where a man named Raveendran was found dead inside an under-construction building. The police noted that both the murders had an identical modus operandi, where the assailant targeted vulnerable individuals sleeping outdoors, demanded money, and brutally assaulted them if they resisted. It was after a relentless two-day manhunt across various parts of Tamil Nadu that the police team closed in on the accused at Valparai following a tip-off.The accused was brought to Kollam on Wednesday night and will be produced in court on Thursday after a detailed interrogation, which the officers say is crucial to confirming his direct link to the Parippally murder.CCTV footageAccording to the police, financial gain was the primary motive behind the murders. In the recent incident, the killer fled with Rajendran’s phone and a black bag. The breakthrough in the case came after investigators analysed CCTV footage, which led them to suspect the involvement of a serial killer. The CCTV footage from a nearby residence showed a man in a white shirt and lungi loitering near Rajendran for a long time. The footage captured a struggle between the two when the suspect attempted to rob him. It was the visual evidence from the surveillance cameras that ultimately helped the police trace the suspect’s movements. The police also revealed that Rajendran was murdered just as he was preparing to move into a shelter home to escape life on the streets. Published - June 03, 2026 08:10 pm IST