Thiruvananthapuram: After Koodathai in Kozhikode, it is ‘Kood-athil’ at Karamana here to keep the police and the public on their toes. The police is now probing the mysterious deaths of seven members of a family, including the house owner of Koodathil house, over a period of 20 years.
A Special Investigation Team headed by Crime Branch DCP Mohammed Arif has taken charge of the case after a relative of the house owner lodged a complaint with DGP Loknath Behera two days ago.
The victims of the family, also known as Uma Mandiram at Kaladi, Karamana, who died under suspicious circumstances are house owner Gopinathan Nair, his wife Sumukhi Amma, children Jayasree, Jayabalakrishnan, Jayaprakash, Gopinathan Nair’s brother Velu Pillai’s son Unnikrishnan Nair and Gopinathan Nair’s another brother Narayana Pillai’s son Jayamad-havan. The suspicion was triggered following Jayamadhavan's death in 2017.
His cousin Jayaprakash died in 2013. Both were bachelors and did...
not have any health issues.
One of their relatives, Prasannakumari, in her complaint submitted to the DGP, alleged that some people had tried to get hold of the assets in the name of Jayamadhavan.
Behera told reporters that some deaths in the family were suspicious and hence a probe had begun. "Prima facie, there is a suspicion. So I have entrusted the district Crime Branch to initiate a probe," he said.
In 2018, Anilkumar of Karamana had submitted a complaint to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Behera that the former caretaker of the family Raveendran Nair had grabbed the family’s properties worth Rs 50 crore by forging a will.
The Karamana police had registered an FIR, but there were complaints of deliberate delay by the police in the probe. Though the Crime Branch had submitted a report in September 2018, any action was being taken only now.
The police said the post-mortem report was being examined.
Prasannakumari told reporters that during the death of Jayamadhavan, Raveendran was present at the house. After Jayamadhavan fell unconscious, Raveendran took him in an autorickshaw to the hospital without informing any relatives. Both Jayaprakash and Jayamadhavan were under treatment for mental illness. “Raveendran also threatened me when I complained to the police. The papers proving their illness were also found charred in the residence. This was why we felt Jayaprakash and Jayamadhavan were murdered," she said.
Leela, the servant of the house, was one of the witnesses who signed on the will. She said that she signed it when Jayamadhavan was alive. “Both Raveendran Nair and Jayamadhavan were there when I signed the will. I was not aware that it was a will,”she said.
Meanwhile, Raveendran Nair said that he would file a defamation case against those who were spreading false news against him. “Some members of the family along with outsiders were conspiring against me because I did not agree to some of their demands,” he said.
“When Jayaprakash died, it was me and Jayamadhavan who took him to the hospital after informing the neighbours. In the case of Jayamadhavan, I saw him lying on the floor in an unconscious condition while I came to the house in the morning and I took him to the hospital,” he said.
