Kottayam: A forensic examination of the CCTV images from a Mannanam school has revealed that the accused in the Kevin murder case were in the area on the fateful day.

Forensic assistant director R Rahila has said in court that the accused had conducted checks near the house of his cousin Anish before kidnapping Kevin.

The CCTV images from the nearby Mannanam school revealed this, she added.

Forensic examination was carried out on the blurred pictures to bring more clarity. With this, two more images of the accused's car have also been made available. These images now strongly back the charge that the accused had reached Anish's house.

Kevin was abducted on May 27, 2018, by a gang allegedly on the instructions of his fiancee Neenu's family. He was found dead in a river at Thenmala in Kollam the next day. Though Kevin’s cousin Anish was also abducted, he was not harmed.

The CCTV images revealed that main accused Sanu Chacko's car and other accused's car proceeded towards Mannanam around 1.23am on May 27 and returned by 1.33pm. It is suspected that the accused were trying to find out Kevin's house. When the police first checked the CCTV visuals, they were not able to spot this. It was only after detailed examining that the forensic experts marked out this.

Apart from a Wagon R and i20, an Innova was seen going to Mannanam at 2.24am. At 2.38am, the Innova and i20 returned, as per the visuals. The prosecution has contended that Kevin and Anish were abducted in these cars. The police had checked the Wagon R at Mannanam, that’s why this car is not seen in the visuals along with the other two. At 3.06pm, the Wagon R followed by the police jeep is seen passing by. The police have submitted these CCTV images in court.

After the forensic examination of these images it has been proved that Sanu was sitting on the left side of the Wagon R, the forensic assistant director said in court.

Gandhinagar police station ASI T M Biju and civil police officer M N Ajayakumar had carried out checks on the Wagon R and took photos of Sanu and Ishan Ismail, who were in the car, on May 27. These pictures were also checked to confirm that Sanu was in the car.

Also, the phone conversation with Sanu Chacko that ASI T M Biju had recorded and the audio clip he had forwarded to special branch officer Anil Kumar were the same, the forensic lab confirmed.