Overview

• Residents reported smoke from a rented room in Chowannur on Sunday evening, and firefighters discovered a partially burnt male body.
• Police arrested Sunny, 61, later that night at the Thrissur Sakthan bus stand after he briefly absconded.
• Officers say CCTV shows Sunny with the victim and allege a dispute over 'unnatural sex' preceded an assault and the room being set on fire with an inflammable liquid.
• Investigators have reclassified the case as murder, with confirmation of cause and manner of death awaiting forensic examination and a postmortem at Thrissur Medical College.
• The victim remains unidentified, estimated to be about 35, and police note the accused's prior involvement in murder cases in 2003 and 2005, including one conviction.