KOLLAM: The police team under Kochi Range IG Vijay Sakare on Sunday recovered weapons including swords used to abduct Kevin, the victim of dishonour killing. They found swords in a drain near the house of Vishnu, one of the accused, in Punalur. The investigators are yet to conclude if he had drowned as he fled the assassins or the gang threw him into to the river to finish him off.
They are also looking at the option of arraigning his widow’s mother, Rehana, in the murder plot. The team collected pieces of evidence by taking the detainees Fasal, Niyas, Riyas, and Vishnu tracing the path they travelled after abducting Kevin.
Police also searched for evidence in Vishnu’s house. Meanwhile, the accused reiterated their statement that Kevin had escaped from their custody. The accused also showed the team the route through which Kevin escaped into the woods and eventually ended up near the Chaliyekkara River from where his body was recovered. Police also registered the timeline in which Kevin was taken to Thenmala from Kottayam where he was abducted.
Meanwhile, the police sought the aid of medical board for an expert opinion on his death based on the autopsy report. The body had 16 wounds including a deep one just above the right eye. It also sustains bruises that might have caused by dragging through the ground. Kevin P. Joseph, 23, was found drowned in Chaliyekkara canal a week back. His wife Neenu, whom he had married disregarding the objections from her family members though not completed formalities, had complained to the Gandhi Nagar police on May 27 that some persons had abducted him and the police failed to take any action to save him.
Policemen not accused
In an apparent move to save the face of tainted cops in Kevin murder, Kochi Range IG Vijay Sakare on Sunday said they would not be made accused as it was “just” dereliction of duty. “The policemen will not be accused in the case. They are neither involved in the murder nor the conspiracy, but there was a lapse in their duty” Mr Sakare said. ASI T.M. Biju and civil police officer Ajaya Kumar from Gandhi Nagar police station were arrested for accepting a bribe from the accused in Kevin murder case and were given bail by a court.
