Thiruvananthapuram: In a shocking incident, four members of a family were found dead inside their multi-storey house adjacent to Cliff House, the official residence of Kerala chief Minister, in Nanthancode in the early hours of Sunday.
Three bodies were in a fully burnt state, while the other one was found cut to pieces.
The deceased were identified as former resident medical officer (RMO) Dr. Jeen Padma, her husband retired professor Rajathankam, their daughter Caroline, and Lalitha, a relative.
The bodies are believed to be at least two-day old.
Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of murder, said an officer. The incident came to light after local people alerted the police and fire force upon spotting thick smoke emanating from the house around 1 am.
Half-burnt dummy inside the house, son on the run
The police have also recovered a half-burnt dummy from the house. The dummy bore similarities to the couple's elder son, Cadell Jeansen Raja, who went absconding after the incident. It is suspected that Cadell could have left the dummy inside the house to create an impression that all five people in the house were killed.
The police have launched a manhunt for Cadell, and all railway stations and bus stands have been alerted. Cadell, who has been working in Australia, was on vacation.He reportedly boarded a bus from the KSRTC's central bus terminal at Thampanoor around 2 am on Sunday.
Caroline, who had been pursuing MBBS in a Chinese university, came home only a couple of days ago.
The police are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the gruesome killings. They suspect that the murders could have taken place on different days.
Even state police chief Loknath Behera is keeping a close watch on the case as the murder took place in a house near the Kerala chief minister's official residence.
Rajathankam was a professor at the department of History in Nesamony Memorial Christian College in Marthandam on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.