Kerala: Three years on, police crack chilling double murder

ADGP Tomin J Thachankary of Crime Branch told the media that the accused killed his widowed mother to lay his hands on the family’s wealth. He hired Ismail, who was from Malappuram district and had been involved in several cases, including theft, said the ADGP. The two allegedly strangled Jayavally to death and Birju hanged her body to show it as a case of suicide, said police.

Ismail later threatened Birju that he would disclose that Jayavally’s death was murder, said the ADGP.

Subsequently, Birju invited Ismail to his home, got him drunk and strangled him to death, said police. Later, he cut his body into pieces and packed them in bags, said police. Next day, some body parts were thrown in a river in Kozhikode and the remaining at the wayside poultry waste heap near Mukkom.

The ADGP said DNA test on the body parts recovered from the sites revealed they were of the same person. The fingerprints of the person killed was examined and they matched with Ismail’s — police had collected his finger prints in the past owing to his alleged involvement in theft cases.

To confirm Ismail’s identity, blood samples were collected from Ismail’s mother and the DNA matched with samples from the recovered body parts, said police.

Police then found Ismail had spoken to his friends about money he had to take from a person for a supari murder in Kozhikode.

This took police on the trail of Birju, who was found missing. After the murders, Birju, son of a landlord, had moved to Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu. He was picked up and and during questioning, he confessed to the killings, police said.