Kerala RJ Rajesh murder: Qatar businessman is mastermind, says hitman

The police team probing the murder of a former RJ Rajesh Kumar on Tuesday recorded the arrest of Salih Bin Jalal, aka Alibhai, in Kerala who confessed to the crime. Alibhai admitted that he was involved in the murder, which was carried out at the behest of Abdul Sathar, a businessman based in Qatar. 

Alibhai told the police that Sathar had a grudge against RJ Rajesh since the former radio jockey had a relationship with the businessman's former wife. The woman is a dance trainer in Qatar. 

Alibhai's confession validates the suspicions on which the investigation team has been relying on since the preliminary stages of the probe. Alibhai was picked up from the international airport in Kerala capital of Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday morning. He arrived in the Kerala capital even as the police were trying to get his visa cancelled. The police, as per reports, had issued alerts at airports in the state after they got clues that Alibhai would land in Kerala on Tuesday. 

The police had said they would not let him surrender. Alibhai was detained a day after the police arrested another Kerala native Shanseer, who is suspected to be a member of the gang that committed the murder. 

Police sources said Alibhai and Shanseer hacked RJ Rajesh, while Appunni, another accused, stopped the victim from running away. Shanseer is also accused of hiding the weapons used for the crime. 

An engineering student in Bengaluru and a youth from Kundara were also nabbed by the police in connection with the case. 

Rajesh, aka Rasikan Rajesh, was hacked to death in his studio by the gang in  the early hours of March 27. Rajesh's assistant Kuttan was also attacked. He is being treated at the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.

RJ Rajesh, a folk singer, was working as a radio jockey with an FM channel a few years ago.