In a chilling case that remained unsolved for nearly two decades, an ex-Armyman was arrested on Friday for allegedly killing a 24-year-old woman and her 17-day-old twin babies in Kerala with the help of a fellow soldier.
According to an NDTV report, the accused committed the crime fearing that a paternity test would prove that he was the father of the twin daughters.
The two men then left the army and went into hiding. Later on, they got married and had children - and managed to evade the law for a staggering 19 years; until a tip-off proved to be their undoing, NDTV reported.
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For the unversed, the case dates back to February 10, 2006, when 24-year-old Ranjini and her newborn daughters were murdered in their rented house at Yeram near Anchal in Kerala's Kollam district.
Rajini, her babies were found dead at their house
Ranjini's mother had discovered the bodies upon returning from the panchayat office, where she had gone to get the twins' birth certificates.
{{/usCountry}}Ranjini's mother had discovered the bodies upon returning from the panchayat office, where she had gone to get the twins' birth certificates.
{{/usCountry}}The probe into the crime later revealed that Dibil Kumar B, a native of Anchal who was 28 at the time and served in the Indian Army's 45 AD Regiment in Pathankot, was in a relationship with Ranjini.
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After the twins were born on January 24, 2006, however, he began distancing himself from her.
The Kerala State Women's Commission ordered a test to establish the paternity of the twins. This infuriated Kumar, who allegedly began plotting her murder.
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CBI officials said that Rajesh P (his friend) also served with Kumar in the same Army regiment. He reportedly befriended Ranjini and her mother and assured them that he would help convince Kumar to marry Ranjini, but allegedly joined in the plot to kill her and her daughters instead.
The case was handed over to the CBI in 2010 on the orders of the Kerala High Court, but a breakthrough eluded the agency as well.