Thodupuzha murders: Palm-leaf manuscripts just an imaginary story?

The cops are yet to recover the manuscripts and not a single relative of the family has stated that Krishnankutty had kept such manuscripts at home.

Thodupuzha: Even though the police cracked the gruesome murder of a family from Mundanmudi near Thodupuzha in Kerala's Idukki district with the arrest of an accused on Monday, there are several loopholes in the investigation team's theory on the motive behind the killings.

According to sleuths, the main accused Aneesh, who is still on the run, and his aide Libeesh had killed Krishnankutty, 60, who was into witchcraft, his wife Susheela, 50, daughter Arsha, 21, and son Arjun, 18, for stealing palm-leaf manuscripts kept in the house for practising black magic.

Police had claimed that Aneesh, who was a disciple and aide of Krishnankutty for the pujas and other rituals he conducted at several houses in Idukki district, believed that his master had evil powers obtained from the manuscripts.

The fault in the police theory is that Aneesh is an unlettered person and even Krishnankutty, according to sources, had not cleared his class X. Same is the case with Libeesh, who is married to a woman from Thodupuzha. According to experts, the palm-leaf manuscripts are normally written in Sanskrit or in ancient Malayalam, making it difficult for any illiterate person to understand it. It is not clear why does Aneesh need the manuscripts which he cannot even read.

Thodupuzha murders: Palm-leaf manuscripts just an imaginary story? — Kerala police had arrested Libeesh on Monday

Also read: Goat bleat was death knell for Thodupuzha family

According to experts, such manuscripts talk about the method of various rituals sorcerers resort to for gaining supernatural powers. If one cannot read the manuscripts, there is no point in possessing it, say experts. Moreover, the cops are yet to recover the manuscripts and not a single relative of the family has stated that Krishnankutty had kept such manuscripts at home. According to sources in the police, the manuscripts theory was just a figment of imagination by the probe team just to add some more credence to their story of the duo killing the family for gold jewellery.

Lucky cops

The Kerala police were lucky to crack the case within a week. Even though Idukki district police chief K B Venugopal praised range IG Vijay Sakare for his able guidance in solving the case, the kudos should actually go to Adimaly police station cops, who helped the department track down the culprits. According to sources, a person who conducts pujas near Adimaly had passed on a message to a cop in Adimaly police station that two persons had approached him for holding a particular puja as penance for their sins. He had also shared the identities (Aneesh and Libeesh) of the duo to the cop.

After getting the information, the cop passed on this to Adimaly circle inspector, who rushed to Thodupuzha along with a team and nabbed Libeesh. That was the biggest breakthrough in the case. However, when the Idukki police chief addressed the media he failed to mention about the crucial contribution of Adimaly cops in the case. Crime location at Mundanmudi is under Kaliyar police station limits.

Sources also claimed that the main murder weapon — shock absorber pipe of a Bullet motorcycle from Libeesh's mechanic shop — is also a cooked up story. The cops had apparently collected this pipe from the shop and showed it as the murder weapon as there were no finger prints on the hammer and other weapons found in the house.

Where is Aneesh?

According to sources, Aneesh is hiding in the dense forests near Adimaly and the cops are not able to conduct proper search in the area due to heavy rain and the wild elephants roaming the area. Aneesh, a tribal from Korangatty near Adimaly, knows the forest too well and he can survive in the jungle for months.

Insiders also claim that the Adimaly cops are a bit disappointed with their bosses as they were not given due credit for solving the case.

Jewellery pawned

The family lived in a secluded house and rarely interacted with their neighbours.

After the murders, Aneesh and Libeesh took all the gold jewellery in the house and later divided it. Part of the jewellery — an anklet and a chain weighing around 16 gm — Libeesh had pawned at a finance company at Thodupuzha for Rs 43,000 with the help of his friend. Libeesh took Rs 25,000 from him and told the friend to keep the rest of the money with him. Cops have also recovered the rest of the jewellery from Libeesh's house.

Killers' gloves

According to sources, the murders were well-planned and the duo knew the family very well.

According to police sources, Libeesh and Aneesh reached the house on a motorbike on Sunday midnight. Both of them wore gloves before they started the operation. First they went to the goat shed outside the house and thrashed the animals. On hearing the goats' loud bleats, Krishnankutty came out. The duo was waiting outside with an iron rod. Libeesh hit Krishnankutty on the head. After a few minutes, Susheela came out to check what happened to her husband. She was also silenced the same way. Then both the killers entered the house and killed Arsha and Arjun. After taking all gold jewellery from the house, the duo washed the floor so that no evidence is left. The killers then came back the next day to clean the house again. This was to ensure that no proof is left behind.

Non-Keralites under scanner?

Hours before getting the big breakthrough with the help of Adimaly cops, the investigation team was groping in the dark as they were focusing on three West Bengal residents who had left Kerala a day after the murder.

The police theory was masons from WB have strong arms and they know too well how to use a hammer. (Police had stated that a hammer was found inside the house.) Police teams were immediately sent out to collect details of Bengalis staying in nearby areas. Soon, cops came to know that a Bengali working in a poultry farm had taken Rs 18,000 from his employer and left for home for some urgent work. Two more such cases came to light during the investigation. Soon, cops were told to track the three Bengalis left Kerala on July 30 (Monday). However, before they were detained for questioning, Libeesh was arrested.