Nellikkuzhi murder: Stalker learnt about Bihar gun hub via internet

The shocking incident happened on July 30 when Rakhil broke into the house where Manasa was staying as a paid guest, and shot her point-blank.
Rakhil and Manasa
Rakhil and Manasa

KOCHI: The 32-year-old stalker who shot a dental college student before killing himself at Nellikkuzhi in Kothamangalam had searched the internet extensively to learn about the illegal gun hub of Munger district in Bihar from where he sourced the gun used for the crime, police sources said.

According to the special investigation team (SIT), Rakhil, of Kannur, had no prior connection in Bihar to obtain assistance in procuring the pistol used to kill 24-year-old P V Manasa, a student of Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences in Nellikkuzhi. Through the internet, he found it was not difficult to purchase a gun from Munger, officers said.

The shocking incident happened on July 30 when Rakhil broke into the house where Manasa was staying as a paid guest, and shot her point-blank. He killed the woman after she allegedly declined his marriage proposal.

“Although Munger is notorious for illegal gun sales, not many people in Kerala know about it. Rakhil had no clue about the place before he did an internet search. He was able to quickly learn enough about the district due to the availability of several news reports and other writings about the notorious place. He later travelled to Munger along with his friend Adityan to procure the gun based on this information,” said a member of the SIT. The team came to the conclusion based on Rakhil’s mobile search history. 

“Earlier, we assumed that other people may have assisted him in obtaining the pistol. However, during subsequent investigations, we discovered he had no prior knowledge about or any connection with Bihar. He made contact with Maneesh Kumar only after arriving in Bihar. Later, Maneesh, an agent, connected Rakhil to Sonu Kumar. We are also looking into other people’s involvement in the crime,” said the officer. Rakhil had paid Rs 35,000 for the gun.

Meanwhile, the police, who arrested Rakhil’s close friend and business partner Adityan for having travelled to Bihar to buy the pistol, found that the latter learned about the gun purchase only after reaching Bihar. “According to the information we have collected, Rakhil hadn’t revealed the purpose of his visit to Adityan. Rakhil also didn’t tell him the reason he was purchasing the pistol. We confirmed this after reviewing their most recent WhatsApp conversation,” said the police source.

When asked, Ernakulam Rural SP K Karthick said the status of the investigation into the case cannot be revealed at the moment. “The case is under the consideration of the court, and the investigation hasn’t been completed yet. So we cannot divulge any information regarding the investigation,” Karthick said.
A ballistic examination of the gun had revealed that it was a country-made 7.62mm pistol. Following this finding, the police deployed a five-member team to find the source of the gun.

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