The Kattappana police on Saturday registered two cases under Section 102 of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the suspected murders of two persons in Idukki district.
According to the police, the accused confessed to the murder of a four-day-old baby and N.M. Vijayan, a resident of Kakkattukada, near Kattappana, in Idukki. The Kattappana Judicial First Class Magistrate Court allowed police custody of Kakkattukada resident Nitheesh, 31, in connection with the cases.
Idukki District Police Chief T.K. Vishnu Pradeep said the accused confessed to the crime. “More details will be available after a detailed probe,” he said.
The murders came to light when two youths were interrogated in connection with a theft case. Kakkattukada residents Vishnu Vijayan, 29, and Nitheesh were handed over to the police following a theft bid in a workshop at Kattappana on March 2.
The police said, after interrogation, they went to Vishnu’s house and found his mother and 30-year-old sister locked inside in a deranged state. His father Vijayan, 60, was found missing. A probe was ordered on the basis of their statements and it was suspected he was murdered.
Nitheesh, a suspected sorcerer, confessed to the police that he had been living with the family from 2015 onwards. He had a child with Vishnu’s sister and strangled the child to death four days after delivery. The body was buried inside the old home of the accused at Sagara Junction, near Kattappana. Later, they moved to a rented home in Kakkattukada.
As per the confession, the accused quarrelled with Vijayan and murdered him. The murder was committed days before last Onam and the body was buried inside the rented home. Vishnu, his mother, and sister were aware of the murder, the police said.
The police said Nitheesh had been practising sorcery for years and a detailed probe was needed to unearth its link with the murders. A search would be held at the house on Sunday. If the victim’s body was found there, the police would record the arrest of the accused and IPC Section 302 would be slapped on them.
