Cynthia’s murder: Pharmacists released unconditionally

Cynthia Osokogu

 

The two pharmacists arraigned with the murderer of Cynthia Osokogu have been released unconditionally.

The two men, Maduakor Chukwunonso and Orji Osita worked at Oxpharm Pharmacy and allegedly sold Rohpynol Flunitrazepam-a sedative-  to the killers without proper prescription.

Counsel to the duo, Uchenna Nwoye, said they were released based on the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution.

They ought not to have been arraigned with the self-confessed murderers in the first place. But, we have high level off illiteracy in the police force.

They are quick to round up people and herd them to court without first asking themselves if they have enough evidence to prosecute them for the crime they are pinning on them.

To the boys just released, sorry o! Be more careful next time.

Cynthia: Court grants two suspects bail, remands driver

L-R: Nonso, Okechukwu and Ezeaka. Inset: Cynthia. Credits: Eniola Akinkuotu.

A Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday granted bail to two suspects arrested in connection with the alleged murder of Cynthia Osokogu.

But  the driver who was accused of driving the prime suspect to Cosmilla Hotel, FESTAC, was remanded in prison custody.

The suspects granted bail – Nonso Ezike (22), who is the younger brother to Olisaeloka, one of the alleged killers, and Ezeaka Chinonso (27) – were arrested by policemen at Area E for receiving and selling Cynthia’s BlackBerry phone.

The two counts read, “That you Ezike Nonso Ifechukwu and Ezeaka Chinonso, sometime in the month of July 2012, at 93 Tedi/Memo Road Abule-Osun, Lagos in the Lagos Magisterial District did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: receiving robbed/stolen property thereby committed an offence and punishable under Section 409 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

“That you (accused persons), on the same date, time did knowingly receive one white BlackBerry phone valued at N85,000 from one Ezike Olisaeloka also known as Chidera, property of Cynthia, knowing same to have been robbed/stolen and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 326 (1)(2) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

Nonso’s lawyer, Mr. J. C Ngobili, told the court that the accused was a student of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and prayed the court to grant him bail in liberal terms.

The Magistrate, Mr. P.A. Adekomaya, admitted that although the offences were bailable, he pointed out that the bail condition ought not to be too liberal in view of the circumstances surrounding Cynthia’s murder.

He granted Nonso and Ezeaka bail in the sum of N500,000 each with two sureties in like sum, adding that the sureties must not be teachers or local government employees. He added that the sureties could be bank tellers.

The third accused person, Gideon Okechukwu, a driver, was however charged with eight counts of murder, rape, robbery, conspiracy, administering a harmful substance to the deceased among others.

The charge reads in part, “That you, Gideon Okechukwu, and others charged to court, on the same dates, time and place, in the aforesaid Magisterial district, did unlawfully kill one Cynthia Osokogu (25) by administering her with obnoxious substance known as Rohypnol Flunitrazepam tablets via a Ribena drink, binding her with padlock and cellotaped her legs, neck and mouth, giving her fist blows all over her body, giving her several human bites, tortured and strangled her to death and thereby committed an offence, punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

Okechukwu had told PUNCH Metro before he was arraigned that he only drove the alleged killers from the area where the hotel was situated, adding that he had no role in Cynthia’s murder.

Okechukwu’s lawyer, Bello, prayed the court to also grant the accused bail, adding that he had been held at the State Criminal Investigation Department.

The magistrate, who quickly interjected, explained that it wasn’t within the jurisdiction of the court to grant bail for such offences.

He said, “Do you think I am drunk or under a spell that I would grant bail for such offences? Before this court is an application for remand. The accused person can only be granted bail based on the advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions or order from a superior court.”

Okechukwu was remanded in Ikoyi Prison. The matter was adjourned till October 3, 2012.

Cynthia:Police recover 50 nude pictures

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All the evidence needed to send the killers of Cynthia Osokogu to hell seems complete with the discovery of over 50 pictures of the victims of the evil boys on the laptop of one of them.
Police detectives at the Area E Command, Lagos said Cynthia Osokogu’s killers took pictures while sexually assaulting her.
The Area Commander, Damian Okoro, said, “The pictures are contained in a recovered black Compaq 610 laptop belonging to Nwabufor Okwuomo, one of the suspects who lured the deceased to Lagos.”
The laptop is also said to contain over 50 nude photographs of female victims who have fallen prey to the suspect.
According to The Punch, some of the photographs showed girls tied with rope and their mouths covered with cello tape with objects inserted in their private part.
Osokogu’s naked photographs also showed bites and wounds inflicted all over her.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation on Wednesday said it had concluded arrangements to sue the management of Cosmilla Hotel in Festac Town, Lagos, where Osokogu was murdered by ‘BlackBerry friends’ over illegal operation.
The corporation also said it had issued a query to the management of the hotel to explain why they had refused to register with it in accordance with laid-down rules and regulations.
A statement issued by NTDC’s Director of Communications, Mr. Akin Onipede in Abuja quoted the Director-General of the corpration, Chief Segun Runsewe as saying that would “file former charges against the management of Cosmilla Hotel for illegal operation since it was not registered with the corporation.”
He said, “The development which was confirmed by the Director General of the Corporation, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe revealed that a former query had been issued to the hotel to which it had replied.”
“According to Otunba Runsewe, the management of the Hotel has already admitted that they had not registered with the Corporation which showed that the hotel is operating illegally.

Cynthia: Buying fairly used BB can land you in trouble

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Murdered: Cynthia

 

Detectives working on the murder of Cynthia Udoka Osokogu have traced her Blackberry to a businessman in Port Harcourt.

Miss  Osokogu, the Delta State-born 2009 second runner-up of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, (MBGN), was murdered by a gentleman she met on BB, Okwumo Echezona Nwabufor, 33, and his cousin, Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka.

 The Vanguard reports that middle-aged businessman who purchased the BB, (name withheld) was arrested by detectives attached to Area ‘E’ Command Festac Town, Lagos, after the deceased’s BB pin number was retrieved from her father.

This is also coming on the heels of the discovery of a bizarre video recording of how Cynthia was allegedly raped by her suspected killers. The video was seen in the laptop of the suspects.

In the video, Cynthia was clearly shown being raped, while the faces of the rapists were blurred. Apart from being tied and forcefully raped, the rapists also bit her deeply several times in her breasts, buttocks and back .

 Vanguard gathered that although Cynthia’s BB has had all information pertaining to ownership of the handset flashed-off in an attempt to make pass for a brand new phone, detectives led by the Area Commander, ACP Daniel Okoro, were able to use the pin number to get the number of the SIM Card of the current holder.

 

According to sources, one of the detectives then put a call to the Port Harcourt-based business man to say that the BB in his possession was a stolen one.

Through the information on his registered SIM Card and the receiving mast, detectives moved to Port Harcourt, where his residence was located. But they did not meet him at home.

 It was said that the phone buyer openly admitted that he bought it through a friend in Lagos, adding that it was sent to him through courier services.

I’m not a murderer- Pharmacist who sold drugs to Cynthia’s killers

Facing murder rap: Chukwunonso Maduakor.

 

A support base is building for a pharmacy student, Chukwunonso Maduakor, who was arraigned with the killers of Cynthia Osokogu. His schoolmates at Igbinedion University and others who know him are attesting to it that he knew nothing of the plot to kill Cynthia.

It would seem that the only connection to the crime was that he sold the drug that the killers used on the hapless victim, Cynthia. From the account purportedly rendered by Nonso, it would also seem that the police through a sting operation tested the claim of the suspected killers of Cynthia that they bought the drug they used from Oxfam in FESTAC, without any doctor’s prescription.

The account purportedly obtained from Nonso in police custody by one of his friends who did not use his proper name goes thus: "I just started my pharmacy internship at 'Oxpharm', a pharmacy in Festac about two months ago. Last week Monday (20/08/12), I was doing my job when a middle aged man walked into the pharmacy and made complaints of persistent generalized body pains and difficulty with sleeping as a result of an accident he had some weeks back. The individual then specifically requested for the drug Rohypnol® (Flunitrazepam). I then asked for the Doctors prescription. The individual said he had none but begged that he really needs the drug to help his condition because all others did not give him relief. I still refused but after much begging and after profiling the individual as one who was not at risk to addiction to the drug, I sold the individual 1 satchet of drug and counselled him to see a doctor. After which I recorded the purchase of the drug in the Pharmacy's register.

“About 3-5 minutes after the individual left the pharmacy, hefty men numbering up to five in mufti who did not identify themselves stormed into the pharmacy and pounced on me (Nonso), rough-handled me and took me to Festac police station.".....Nonso.

 

Two pharmacists charged with Cynthia’s killers

Image: Eniola Akinkuotu

A Yaba Chief Magistrate’s Court, Lagos, was filled to capacity on Monday as the police arraigned four suspects for the murder of Cynthia Osokogu, daughter of Maj-Gen Frank Osukogu (retd.), on July 22, 2012.

The accused – Okwumo Nwabufo (33), Ezike Olisaeloka (23), Orji Osita (32) and Maduakor Chukwunonso (25) – were charged with eight offences.

Nwabufo and Olisaeloka are students while Osita and Chukwunonso are pharmacists.

Some of the charges levelled against the accused were murder, rape, robbery, administering an obnoxious substance to the deceased without her consent.

The charge sheet read in part, “That you (accused persons) and others at large, between 9pm on July 21, 2012 and 12pm of July 22, 2012 at Room C1, Cosmilla Hotel, Lakeview Estate, Amuwo Odofin, FESTAC, Lagos, in the Magisterial District, conspired among yourselves to commit felony to wit; murder and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 231 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2011.

“That you (accused persons) and others at large, on the said date, unlawfully killed Cynthia Osokogu by administering her with an obnoxious substance known as Rohpynol Flunitrazepam tablets via a Ribena fruit drink, binding her hands with chain, padlock and taping her legs, neck and mouth, giving her fist blows and several human bites, tortured and strangled her to death, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

“That you (accused persons) and others at large on same date and place did unlawfully have sexual intercourse with one Cynthia Osokogu without her consent and thereby committed an offence punishable under section 258(1) of the criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”

The accused persons were also charged with robbing the deceased of her BlackBerry phone, passport, driving licence, shoes, hand bag, artificial sex toy vibrator, three wristwatches, four rings, three pairs of earrings and other properties.

Mr. Chukwu Agwu, the police prosecutor, prayed the court to remand the accused persons in prison custody.

The Magistrate, Mr Olalekan Aka-Bashorun, said the accused persons should be remanded in prison custody pending the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The case was adjourned till October 3, 2012.

A mini-drama however unfolded outside the court room as journalists and members of the public scrambled to take pictures of the accused persons.

The lawyer of the pharmacists, who refused to identify himself, tried to prevent  The Punch from taking pictures.

“The pharmacists are not killers. Their charges were only mixed up with those of the other two suspects (Nwabufo and Olisaeloka),” he said.

Meanwhile, the Osokogu family has said Cynthia would be buried on September 7, 2012 at Bebe, Ovia Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State. 

Mrs. Joy Osokogu, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Jos, Plateau State that her daughter was “very industrious, hardworking and a respectful child.”

She advised youths to be very cautious of making friends with people that they do not know.

She said, “Youths should be very careful, especially when they are making friends on the social media. Like we have seen in the case of my daughter, such friends may have ulterior motives’’

Cynthia’s killers arraigned on rape and murder charge

The suspects in court. Inset: Cynthia.
Image: Cyriacus Izueke

Four suspects were this morning arraigned before Magistrate Aka Bashorun of Yaba Magistrate’s court in connection with the murder of the daughter of a general, Cynthia Osokogu.

The suspects are Okwumo Echezona Nwabufor, 33, Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka, 23, Orji Osita, 32, and Maduakor Chukwunonso, 25.

They were slammed with  an eight-count charge of murder, armed robbery, administering the late Cynthia with obnoxious substance known as Rohyenol via Ribena fruit drink, among  others.

According to the charge, the suspects also had unlawful sexual intercourse with the victim without her consent.

Their plea was not taken. The court ordered that they should be remanded in prison custody and their file duplicated for DPP’s advice.

The matter was adjourned till 3 October, 2012.

Cynthia Osokogu, the only daughter of retired Major Frank Osokogu, was a post graduate student and boutique owner based in Nassarawa State.

She met the undergraduates, who later murdered her, through social networking site Facebook.

The principal suspects, Ezike Ilechukwu Olisaeloka, 23, and Okwumo Echezona Nwabufor, 33, confessed to the police that they lured her to Lagos from her base in Nassarawa State under the pretext that they are also into clothing business.

After receiving her at the Murtala Muhammed airport in Lagos, they took her to a hotel in Festac Town.

Eloka said they later put Rohyenol tablet in her Ribena drink  and slept with her for about 12 hours.

After discovering that  Cynthia did not have a lot of money on her as they earlier presumed, they raped her for 12 hours and later strangled her.

Following the arrest and subsequent parade of  Olisaeloka and his cousin, Nwabufor, over the murder of Cynthia, three more ladies came forward, saying they were once victims of the alleged murderers.

The three women reportedly went to Festac Police Command to write a statement about how they were drugged, raped and robbed by the suspects now facing trial.

-PM News

Another victim of Cynthia’s killers shows up

Lagos CP, Umar Manko. Image: Daily Independent

Another victim of the killers of Cynthia Osokogu has gone to the police. This confirms the confession of the killers that at least four other ladies have suffered in their hands.

One of the men, Nwabufo Okwumo, according to The Nation which interviewed neighbours, wore expensive suits and designer shirts, lived in a duplex in FESTAC and drove a posh car without any visible means of livelihood.

The lady who stepped forward yesterday, a model went straight to the office of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police in Ikeja, claiming she was a victim of the two undergraduates, who confessed to have killed Cynthia, the only daughter of Gen. Frank Osokogu(rtd), in a hotel located in Lake View Estate in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

According to the Vanguard , the lady said the two undergraduates, Nwabufo Okwumo, and his cousin, Odera Ezekiel, were the same persons that dispossessed her of her belongings in a hotel in Festac.

However, Vanguard could not get a detailed account of her ordeal in the hands of the suspects, as the CP was said to have immediately directed her to the Area E Commander, Mr. Dan Okoro, who led the team of investigators that uncovered the suspects’ activities.

When contacted, the Command’s boss confirmed the visit, explaining that he directed her to the Commander so that she could physically identify the suspects. He called on other females, who had fallen victims to show up.

He said: “Other victims are advised to show up so that if there is any need to expand our investigation, we will do so.”

Video of the suspects confessing killing Cynthia

Watch the suspects sing like birds here now as much as you want, because once they get a lawyer, you are not likely to ever see them saying all this again.

The moment a lawyer is introduced into the equation, their plea is going to be ‘Not Guilty’ and they may even repudiate their confessions and accuse the police of obtaining their statements under duress.

That way, they will go in for a protracted trial wherein every book will be thrown at the judge to stave off the conclusion of the case for another five years, by which time the public has since forgotten and moved on.

It is a strategy that has been used over and over again and will continue to be used by criminals and their bent lawyers until something is done about our judicial system.

Meanwhile, kudos to the team who handled this case. They have made the police proud in the midst of the rot threatening to swallow the force. It has taken roughly one month to crack this case.  A record, considering that in that period, detectives have been to Cotonou, Benin Republic and Nnewi, Anambra State, where Odera who is in his final year was arrested on the school premises.  The team has worked with telecom companies to get leads from the SIM thrown away by the suspects and have collaborated with the Immigrations to obtain useful information.  

I’m kind of curious to find out how the police got the resources to do this thorough investigation within such a short period.  

Anyway, this police team deserve commendation. I hope they get it.

The other people who killed Cynthia

Murdered: Cynthia Udoka Osokogu

It is understandable that there is outrage against the youths, Nwabufo Okwumo and Ezike Olisaeloka who violated the sanctity of trust and cold-bloodedly murdered Cynthia Osokogu, an impressionable young friend they met via Blackberry Messenger. And they didn’t kill her for rituals or as a result of a grudge they bore her. They killed her solely for her money!

The general feeling of most people is that justice should be quickly dispensed and the self-confessed killers dispatched to the other world that they have sent Cynthia into unprepared.

These are all justified feelings. Indeed, at times like this, one wishes there were no lawyers in Nigeria to complicate the case by coaching the killers to plead not guilty and add some years to the life span of a case that could otherwise have been dealt with within a week.

But away from all this, this incident must force us to reflect upon the monsters we are breeding among the young generation with the unconscionable glorification of money and material wealth. Our musicians sing about nothing else these days beside money and how much of it they have. Some devote entire tracks to boasting about how rich they are. The little kids know Moet, Hennessy and the names of other expensive drinks that their parents cannot afford just by listening to our local musicians.  

Our music artistes cannot string together an intelligible line of lyrics without throwing in boasts about the money they have in local and foreign accounts, the expensive cars they ride and all the mighty mansions they have in Nigeria and abroad.

Music videos, including the ones shot by an aspiring musician from the seediest recess of Ajegunle parade young men flashing dollars and rolling around in borrowed expensive cars, filled with scantily-clad women. The ones who call themselves gospel artistes fill the airwaves with songs of their desire to ride a Bentley, and not a word of how they can honestly and diligently earn it.

The pastors preach nothing else but material wealth, and openly eulogise earthly possessions and those who have been successful at acquiring them at the expense of hard work, personal improvement or capacity building.

Add all these to the street-level daily exhibition of obscene opulence by people who do not have any visible means of livelihood and you have a flourishing colony of Nwabufo Okwumos and Ezike Olisaelokas, who literally cannot wait to be rich.

In essence, the undeclared accomplices of those two evil boys are many and scattered across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

There is urgent need to stop the slide. The government can help by putting in place a tax system that severely taxes ostentation. If as an artiste, a captain of industry or high-lying professional, you are rich enough to purchase a N30 million car, you should be able to pay a tax of N10 million on it to the government to provide amenities for everybody.

We should also develop the culture of questioning unexplained wealth and find a way to encourage more responsible attitude among the so called role models in the creative industries.

May God help Nigeria.

We drugged, beat General’s daughter before her death – Suspects

The suspects. Inset: Items recovered from them.
| credits: Eniola Akinkuotu

The suspects who allegedly killed Cynthia Osokogu, daughter of Maj.-Gen. Frank Osokogu (retd.), on July 22, 2012, have admitted that they drugged and beat the 24-year-old girl before she died.

The suspects – Nwabuzo Okumo and Odera Ezekiel – described the incident as a mistake. They claimed that they only wanted to rob her and flee from the hotel before things went awry.

Okumo, a 300-level Accounting student of the University of Lagos, said he met the deceased on BlackBerry Messenger and established a relationship with her before inviting her to Lagos.

He said, “We met through a group on BlackBerry Messenger. We had formed a kind of friendship online.

“When she told me that she was coming to Lagos to buy some goods for her boutique in Abuja, I invited her to Casmillo Hotel, Amuwo Odofin, where an incident led to her death. It was not planned that way. It was a big mistake.

“She arrived in Lagos from Abuja on Sunday, July 21 and I took her to the hotel. I gave her a pack of Ribena juice, which had been injected with a drug I use on women that makes them dizzy, weak and wipes their memory afterwards. I have used the drugs on four girls but it did not kill them.

“I stayed in the room with her for about 12 hours. We talked; I used a vibrator (sex toy) on her. I noticed that she did not drink all the juice and so the drug was not as effective as expected.

“I had no choice than to engage her in a struggle. I had to tie her so that she would not be able to follow me after robbing her.”

However, Ezekiel, a 400-level student of Accounting at the Anambra State University, said he was called by Okumo to help him tie up the girl. He said it was when Cynthia was struggling with them that they beat her up before chaining her.

He said he gave Okumo two packs of Ribena juice that were injected with 10 tablets of xxx.

He said, “I didn’t know the victim. The morning it happened, he (Okumo), said I should come and help him bind the girl because he wanted to steal her belongings. In the process of binding her, she was struggling so we had to beat her up and it was in the process that she passed out. We used our hands in beating her; we did not use any weapon.

“She was still breathing as at the time I left the hotel.”

While parading the suspects, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, Umar Manko, said the suspects specialise in luring young ladies and robbing them. He added that it was unclear if the boys killed their previous victims or not.

“The young lady was found dead and chained in a room in the hotel. Someone called the hotel reception and said, ‘Go and get the dead body of a bastard from your room’. When the lady was found, her identity could not be ascertained,” he said.

It was learnt that a yellow card belonging to the victim was found in the hotel room. From the card, he said the police called immigration authorities and got the passport number and details of the victim.

Manko said, “Her identity was not known but from the telephone number used in calling the hotel, we started our investigations until we got her passport number through the Immigration Service and were able to establish her identity.

“Through CCTV footage, we discovered that two young men entered into her room. We were able to trace the suspects through the phone number that called the hotel.”

Our correspondent learnt that the police initially arrested Ezekiel’s girlfriend. She aided them in apprehending Ezekiel who had run to Anambra State.

Punch Metro learnt that Ezekiel then led the police to Okumo in FESTAC.

Manko said, “The boys are cousins and both are from Anambra State. We’ve been told that this is not their first time but we’ve not been able to able to establish if they always kill their victims. It’s a very long investigation and it’s still ongoing.

“The case is a lesson to people using social networks to be very careful. The suspects will be charged to court for murder.”

The CP however added that no employee of the hotel was involved in the crime.

The items recovered from the suspects are seven driving licences (three belonging to Ezekiel, four belonging to Okumo with different names); the deceased’s belongings, including her shoes(found in Okumo’s house); 17 mobile phones, two Diamond Bank rubber stamps, two syringes, a pack of Ribena, 22 SIM cards, a chain, 12 debit and credit cards.

We killed General's daughter for her money- Suspects

The two killers bowing their heads in shame.

Photo: Oluwasanmi Joseph, PM News

The two young men suspected of killing Cynthia Osokogu were paraded by the police today, according to PM News.

The two, Echezona Nwabufor, 33, and Ezekiel Nnechuwu Olisa Eloka, 23, were paraded by the Lagos State Police Command, Ikeja. They narrated how they drugged the daughter of a retired General, Miss Cynthia Akuzogwu Udoka, 25, and strangled her in order to steal her money.

Above: Cynthia. Below: Cynthia (Right)
at her brother's wedding 

One of the suspects, Eloka, said they killed Cynthia because they thought she had a lot of money in her possession. But after the dastardly act, they did not find a reasonable amount of money on her.

According to the suspects, “we met her on the facebook on our Blackberry. We invited her to come to Lagos to buy goods at cheap prices.

“When she got to Lagos, we took her to a hotel in Festac. We thought she had a lot of money, but she said she didn’t have any money. We gave her xxx tablet in her Ribena drink. After this, we slept with her for 12 hours in that hotel. We discovered that the tablet did not work quickly on her.

“We then attacked her, tied her up and used cellotape to cover her mouth. After that, we beat her to tell us where she kept the money.

“When we didn’t get any money from her, we tied her mouth and strangled her and then we abandoned her in the hotel and fled.”

The suspects and the General’s daughter became friends on Facebook and were exchanging messages and phone calls.

She told them she was coming to Lagos. They met her at Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja from where they ushered her into a hotel in Festac town, Lagos.

Briefing journalists on how policemen were able to arrest the suspects, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Umar Abubakar Manko, said detectives made use of the closed circuit television, CCTV, at the hotel where the crime was committed to identify them.

The Area Commander, Area ‘E’ Police Command, ACP Okoro added that the suspects who are undergraduates of Nigerian universities were nabbed through the call logs of the telephone conversations they had with the late Cynthia who was a post graduate student of Nasarawa State University.

When the suspected killers strangled Cynthia, they deposited her corpse at the mortuary of Isolo General Hospital in Lagos.

ACP Okoro stated that many ATM cards, about 23 SIM cards, different identity cards were recovered from the suspects.

Police sources said the two suspects will soon be arraigned in court to answer a charge of murder.

Source: PM News