Sherin with Bhaskara Karanvar | File PhotoChengannur: As the residents of Pinarayi in Kannur are shell-shocked over the murder of three members of a family by another family member, poll-bound Chengannur still remembers a case in which a man was killed by his daughter-in-law under similar circumstances. Bhaskara Karanavar paid with his life when he developed differences with his daughter-in-law Sherin over her illegal dealings.
Bhaskara Karanavar was leading a retired life after returning to his house, Karanavar’s Villa, at Chengannur, from the USA. In the house, his son, daughter-in-law and grandchild were also staying. One day, Karanavar did not wake up even after his regular time. This was unusual. Sherin went to his room and found Karanavar lying dead on the cot. All around the room, chilli powder was found strewn. She ran to the neighbouring houses seeking help. The entire Chengannur heard the news soon. Bhaskara Karanavar was killed in his house and laptop, mobile phones, watches and a gold chain with ‘rudraksha’ were missing.
Police investigation started on November 8, 2009. The case, registered by Chengannur SI P K Rajmohan, was investigated by CI P Jyothikumar. Police, from the launch of the probe, suspected involvement of someone in the house. There were several reasons for this suspicion. The main one was that the dogs at the house were quiet on the day of the murder. When the police checked the chilli powder found near the body, they realised that it was taken from the kitchen of Karanavar’s Villa itself. The police concluded that the killer belonged to the house.
Karanvar's villa | Bhaskara Karanvar (inset)The shadow of suspicion soon fell on Sherin. Her statements and behaviour were out of place. Sherin’s relationship with her husband was mired in problems. Against this background, police took Sherin into custody and interrogated her. The mystery gradually unravelled. Police checked the mobile call records of Sherin, which led to the other accused Basith Ali, Nidhin and Shanu Rasheed.
Deep-rooted conspiracy
Bhaskara Karanavar was killed as part of a conspiracy hatched by his daughter-in-law and her cronies over several days. However, the police were quick to locate several loopholes in their planning and execution of the murder and took only little time to arrest all the accused.
The chilli powder was strewn all over the room where the crime was committed to mislead investigators regarding the motive. Initially, the police too felt that Karanavar was killed during a robbery attempt. However, the probe was back on track soon when the source of the chilli powder was found. Though laptop and other items were stolen, cash amounting to Rs 9,500 was intact inside a cupboard. Moreover, there were no other signs of robbery.
Police questioned neighbours for getting a clue about how the murderers entered the house. A neighbour said that he had seen Basith Ali and Shanu Rasheed climbing over the compound wall of the house on the night of November 7. Nidhin was standing on the road. Sherin had told the local people as well as the police that robbers had committed the murder. She was a little persistent about this, which increased the doubts of the police.
Sherin had told the local people as well as the police that robbers had committed the murder.Another neighbour told the police that Karanavar had two pet Pomeranians which were kept in a spacious dog house near the main building. Whenever strangers arrive, they often used to bark. On the day of the crime, the dogs were unusually quiet, which made the police conclude that the intruders were known to the pets.
As the main door of the house was found open, it indicated that the murderers came in through this entrance. But there was no indication that the door was forced open. It was hard to believe that the strong wooden door with a secure lock would give way easily. Two glass windows were also open. Neighbours told police that Sherin and Karanavar used to argue frequently. The driver said that Sherin had asked him to buy sleeping pills the day before the crime.
Bhaskara Karanavar slept in a bedroom adjacent to the living room on the ground floor. Sherin’s room was next to Karanavar’s. Her husband Binu used the bedroom on the first floor. Sherin used to send her husband to the upper room pointing out that there was too much dust in her bedroom.
SherinSherin and Binu were married in 2001. She belonged to an ordinary family at Pathanapuram and for her, the wedding was a ladder to the upper strata of society. After the wedding, she went to New York with Binu. However, Karanavar had questioned her behaviour even in the USA. Following which, Karanavar returned to India along with his son and daughter-in-law.
At Chengannur, Sherin became close to the family of a young man who had links with the house. This man had full freedom in the house, which Sherin utilized for her personal benefits.
Karanavar’s fatal decision
Police concluded that the murderers entered the house through the kitchen door. It was a double door with grill outside and an ordinary door inside. Only the grill was locked with a key. Sherin had taken a spare key of this grill. The other key was with the maid, who also lived in the house. The maid slept on the upper storey. It was evident that the killers entered the house with the help of Sherin.
Sherin | File PhotoPolice tried to figure out why Karanavar was killed. ‘I am cancelling my will because my life is in danger,’ these words of Karanavar had led to the murder. The house and the plot were initially willed to Karanavar’s younger son Binu, his wife Sherin and granddaughter Aiswarya. The legal document in this regard was registered on December 4, 2008. However, this document was cancelled on January 24, the next year. Karanavar had cited threats to his life as the reason for this change. When Sherin learned about this, her hatred towards Karanavar increased.
Karanavar’s sister Radhamony told the police the day after the murder itself that he had informed her that he faced danger from Sherin. But the police did not take the statement seriously. When the police examined Karanavar’s bank locker, they found proof of his own suspicion about Sherin. The legal document not only supported Radhamony’s statement, but also became the main piece of evidence while filing the charge sheet.
The contract killers
The hideout of the contract killers which killed Karanavar was located with the help of Sherin’s mobile call records and social media chats. She used to spend considerable amount of time on Orkut and the photos of the three killers were recovered from the social media site. The police traced the mobiles of the killers to Mangalore.
Sherin was found to have links with hawala operators who were close to the killers. It was through Orkut that she made friends with these operators and engaged in major business deals with them.
Following the killers, the police reached a luxury hotel in Bengaluru. But the culprits escaped to Goa 10 minutes before the police arrived. It was on December 13, 2009 that the three killers were arrested from Kollur in Karnataka.
On February 7, 2010 the police filed the charge sheet. The accused, apart from Sherin, were Basith Ali (Bibish Babu -24) of Kurichi in Kottayam, Nidhin (Unni -25) of Kalamassery in Ernakulam and Shanu Rasheed (21) of Kuttikkattukara, Pathalam, in Ernakulam.
Other accused Rasheed, Nidhin and Basith Ali (From L to R)The accused were charged with murder, conspiracy, abetment to murder, destroying evidence and causing physical harm during robbery. Basith Ali, Nidhin and Shanu. Rasheed were charged with trespassing also.
Sherin had even tried to forge Bhaskara Karanvar’s signature to steal money, which also the court took note of.
Phone call records of Sherin and Basith Ali, the attempt to destroy evidence by strewing chilli powder and the phone number of Basith Ali and friend Ranjith in Sherin’s diary were other crucial items of evidence.
The court accepted the argument of the prosecution that Sherin’s animosity towards Karanavar increased after he removed her as the nominee of a fixed deposit worth Rs 14 lakh in a bank.
The ‘7’ connection
In a strange coincidence, the number ‘7’ had a crucial role in the episode. Bhaskara Karanvar was killed on the night of November 7, 2009. The police filed the charge sheet on February 7, 2010 and the trial began in the court of the additional sessions fast-track court judge N Anilkumar on April 7. On the seventh month after the crime, the accused were found guilty. All of them were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Even in jail, Sherin created controversy. She was reluctant to carry out tasks meant for convicts. Later, it was alleged that she was released on parole violating rules.
Appeal in Supreme Court
Sherin moved a special leave petition in the Supreme Court against her sentence. However, the court rejected her arguments and confirmed the life sentence. The bench, comprising Justice S A Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao, pointed out that Sherin had revealed her role in the murder in the statement given under Section 313 of the criminal procedure code during trial. In such circumstances, the court said that other aspects of the case need not be looked into.
Advocates Haren P Rawal and Adolph Mathew appeared for Sherin in the apex court.
Sherin told the Supreme Court that she had called Basith Ali to the house to discuss some business deals. It was he who had summoned the other accused, she claimed. According to Sherin, after went to her bedroom to sleep, Basith Ali called her twice over the phone and asked her not to reveal that they had come to the house. She argued that she knew about the murder only the next morning. But the Supreme Court ignored all these claims.
The life sentence awarded to all the four accused by the trial court was confirmed by the high court. Only Sherin went in appeal before the Supreme Court, but in vain.
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