KOZHIKODE: The mystery behind the Koodathai serial murders was cracked by a team of 15 policemen who worked behind the scenes for over two months and brought to book the main culprit Jolly Joseph and her two accomplices. Their dedicated efforts have won them due recognition with Kozhikode Rural SP K.G. Simon announcing ‘Good service entries’ to them.
They include Rural special branch DySP K. Ismayil, additional SP T.K. Subramanyan, Crime Branch DySP R. Haridasan and sub-inspector Jeevan George.
The way they went ahead with the investigation reads like a thriller. Jolly tried to mislead them but in the face of clinching evidence, she gave up.
The under-cover policemen sporting long beards secretly scanned Kattappana, the native place of Jolly, and also the Ponnamattam house at Koodathai where the majority of murders had taken place.
None knew their identity till the tombs of the victims were opened. Those who visited Kattappana were given language training to suit the local style as the Malabar slang would have exposed them. They also visited NIT Calicut, where Jolly claimed to have worked.
At one point when the police wanted to conduct a polygraph test on Jolly, she insisted on discussing it with her father Joseph. She called a person claiming to be her father, but a policeman who already knew him said the person at the other end of the phone was not her father. Jolly was stunned. Sub-inspector Jeevan George had found that Jolly was not employed in NIT. Her presence at the time of all the deaths in the family was also revealed by the policemen.
According to SP Simon, the investigation team sacrificed a lot to book the culprits. Even the police driver, who proved his mettle, has been honoured, he said.
