THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With just hours remaining to return the custody of the accused to court, the police team probing the Ambalamukku Vinitha murder case on Friday recovered the most crucial piece of evidence – the alleged murder weapon.
The weapon, a sharp knife with a five inch-long blade and a four inch-long wooden handle, was retrieved from inside an old pipe that lay in the kitchen of the tea stall, where the accused, Rajendran, worked. This kitchen also doubled up as his sleeping pod while he used to work there. Peroorkada station house officer inspector Sajikumar, who is the investigation officer in the case, said that the accused had been misleading them for the past one week whenever they enquired him about the whereabouts of the knife.
However, on Thursday evening, he gave in and revealed the place where he had hid the knife. By around 5 am on Friday, the police team had taken him to the shop and retrieved the weapon. It was hidden inside a five feet long PVC pipe that had a diameter of around 3 inches. The pipe was kept vertical in a corner of the room, among other materials. The knife was taken out after cutting open the pipe.
“The knife appeared to be wiped clean. We believe that the forensic experts can still find remnants of blood from the blade as it is not possible to completely wash away blood stains,” the inspector said.
He added that with this finding, almost all the primary pieces of evidence needed in the case have been collected. This includes Vinitha’s gold chain, which the accused stole after the murder; the shirt he wore during the murder, and finally, the murder weapon.
The only material, which the police could not find, was Vinitha’s wedding pendant that was part of her gold chain. The pendant with her dead husband’s name inscribed on it is still missing. By Friday evening, the police returned Rajendran to judicial custody.
