E-Paper
Kochi man held from K’taka over murder of his daughter
Thiruvananthapuram: Nearly a month after a 13-year-old girl was found dead in a river in Kochi, the Kerala Police on Monday confirmed the arrest of her father for her murder from Karwar in Karnataka
Thiruvananthapuram:
Nearly a month after a 13-year-old girl was found dead in a river in Kochi, the Kerala Police on Monday confirmed the arrest of her father for her murder from Karwar in Karnataka.
Kochi police commissioner CH Nagaraju said the preliminary probe revealed that the accused, identified as 45-year-old Sanu Mohan, a resident of Aluva in Kochi, had planned to end his life after killing his daughter due to the financial setback he suffered in his business in Pune. He allegedly suffocated his daughter on March 20 and dumped her body in the river, police said. Mohan then tried to drown himself, but got scared and came out of Muttar river, the police commissioner said, adding that he then fled in his car.
The post-mortem report of the girl confirmed the cause of her death as drowning, with the police suspecting that the girl was dumped in the river before her death. The commissioner said there were several gaps in Mohan’s preliminary statements, adding that they need to be investigated thoroughly. The police have ruled out any involvement of a third party in the case as of now. Nagaraju said police moved an application in a local court on Monday for two-week custody of Mohan.
Police have recovered his car from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. After CCTV visuals at Walayar check-post along the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border confirmed his car crossing the check-post in the early hours of March 21, police began their hunt for the accused, covering three states, the top cop said.
“We have information that he travelled to three-four states to dodge police and there were many attempts to mislead investigators,” he said. Police said that the accused told them that he tried to cut his vein in a bid to end his life but later took medical help. In Goa, where he also claimed to have attempted to end his life, he told the interrogators that he jumped into the sea but rescued by lifeguards. But police said these were excuses to earn sympathy, adding that he was changing his statements frequently.
The Kochi police commissioner said four teams were formed and they were chasing the accused scanning three states.
He said the final breakthrough in the case came when Mohan was spotted in a lodge in Mookambika temple in Karnataka. But before police reached the spot, he fled from there.
Police said Mohan stopped using his mobile phone a few days before his disappearance on March 21. When he was detained in Karwar on Sunday, he was found using another mobile phone, the top police officer said.
An electronic equipment dealer, Mohan left Pune a couple of years ago after his business suffered losses. Police said a case was registered against him in Pune for financial malpractices. Occupants of the flat where he stayed in Kochi said he was a well-behaved man and attached to his daughter, who was interested in dancing and extra- curricular activities. The mother of the victim is yet to record her statement, police said.
