A three-member family was arrested by the Kothamangalam police in connection with a murder, which was initially passed off as an accident death.
The arrested were identified as Eldhose aka Kochappa, 27, his father Joy, 58, and mother Molly, 55, of Pindimana. They stand accused of murdering Eldhose, who ran a studio by the name Seven Arts in Chelad.
Police said that the victim had given Mr. Kochappa, largely unemployed, a loan of ₹3 lakh. The victim had been reportedly demanding his money back, following which Mr. Kochappa invited him to his house in the guise of settling it on Sunday night.
"While at their home, the father and son jointly hammered him to death using an axe. They also threw away his mobile phone," police said.
A special investigation team formed by the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik cracked the case.
According to police, the father-son duo allegedly took the victim’s body sandwiched between them on the victim's own scooter to a nearby canal. The body was abandoned in the canal along with the scooter to make it look as if the victim met with an accident and succumbed to his injuries unnoticed.
Later, the mother burnt the axe used for the alleged murder. She also recovered the victim’s mobile phone and smashed it into smithereens.
The body was found on Monday morning and the event initially got passed off as a road accident. However, the fact that the canal had no water at that time coupled with the post mortem report that the injury was caused by a blunt object raised police’s suspicion.
The police also found it odd that Eldhose’s mobile phone was missing. A probe around the missing phone turned out to be a breakthrough as the victim's family revealed to the police that Eldhose had told them that he was on his way to Kochappa's house to settle the debt.
The last tower location of the victim’s phone also coincided with his presence there. However, when the police officials went to Mr. Kochappa’s house to enquire about the matter, the accused claimed that though the victim had come to their home he had returned with ₹2.25 lakh they had paid him.
The police eventually found the remains of the burnt axe and smashed mobile phone, exposing the lies the accused had told them.
A special investigation team formed by the District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik cracked the case. The team led by DySP Muhammed Riyas and comprising inspectors Basil Thomas, Noble Manual and K.J. Peter, and sub-inspector Mahin Salim made the arrests.
