In a fresh development in the case of two murders in the Idukki district of Kerala that police uncovered during an investigation for theft, the Kattappana police on Sunday exhumed the skeletal remains of one of the victims, a 57-year-old man, a senior officer said.
While a DNA examination is awaited, police suspect that the skeletal remains belong to NM Vijayan, the father of one of the suspects in the robbery case the police was initially investigating and who had been missing since August last year.
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This series of events began with the arrest of 31-year-old Nitheesh, who only goes by one name, and 27-year-old Vishnu Vijayan, residents of Kakkatukada, on March 2 in connection with a robbery.
While investigating the case, police to collect evidence visited Vishnu’s rented home in Kakkattukada, where they learnt that Vishnu’s father had been missing. Police also learnt the about the death in 2016 of a four-day-old girl, who was born to Nitheesh and Vidya, Vijayan’s daughter, out of wedlock, police said.
When questioned, Nitheesh confessed that he had killed Vijayan by striking him in the head with a hammer and subsequently buried the body under the house they were living in, police said. According to the first information report (FIR) filed on March 9, both Nitheesh and Vijayan are accused of murdering the four-day-old child by strangulation.
{{/usCountry}}When questioned, Nitheesh confessed that he had killed Vijayan by striking him in the head with a hammer and subsequently buried the body under the house they were living in, police said. According to the first information report (FIR) filed on March 9, both Nitheesh and Vijayan are accused of murdering the four-day-old child by strangulation.
{{/usCountry}}“Based on Nitheesh’s confession, we dug a part of the house that he pointed to and found the remains of a human body about four feet deep. Inquest and postmortem proceedings are going on. We suspect the victim to be Vijayan, but it has to confirmed through DNA analysis. The accused has also confessed to killing a four-day-old child that he had with Vijayan’s daughter. That murder took place in 2016,” Vishnu Pratheep TK, superintendent of police (SP), Idukki .
The Idukki SP confirmed that two FIRs have been registered in connection with the murders of Vijayan and the four-day-old child. While Nitheesh and Vijayan have been booked in the murder of the child, Nitheesh, Vishnu and Vijayan’s wife Suma have been charged in Vijayan’s killing. They face charges under sections 302 (murder), 201 (destruction of evidence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. It was not immediately clear what role Vishnu and Suma played in the murder.
He declined to reveal the motive behind the murders and said that an investigation was ongoing.
According to Nitheesh’s statement, the child’s remains have been buried under a cowshed at Vijayan’s former home near Sagara junction in Kattappana, an officer investigating the case said.
Suresh KC, the president of Kanchiyar panchayat who was present at the spot when the police discovered the remains suspected to belong to Vijayan, said the body was found in a cardboard box buried around four feet deep under one of the bedrooms.
“It was in a decomposed state. The shirt and pants of the victim were also found in the pit. The bedroom floor was found to be relaid, possibly with concrete, after burying the man’s body,” Suresh added.
The village president alleged that Vijayan, his wife Suma, son Vishnu Vijayan and daughter Vidya began living in the rented home in Kakkattukada around nine months ago after selling their property in Kattappana town for about ₹1 crore.
“We don’t know the circumstances that led them to sell their home in Kattappana and move to a rented home here. Also, what happened to the money they got from selling the property? They were not friendly with the locals and neighbours here,” he said.
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Suresh said that the police began the probe into the double murders after taking Nitheesh and Vishnu into custody in connection with a robbery case. “On March 2, Nitheesh and Vishnu were discovered by employees of a workshop in Kattappana in the middle of the night when they were trying to rob it. They were handed over to the police. When the police came for evidence collection at Vishnu’s rented home here, they found that Vijayan was missing. That’s how they began investigating this case,” he added.