Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch likely has got a complicated puzzle at hand to solve if it has to make headway in the ongoing probe into at least one suspicious death in the Koodathil family at Karamana here in the Kerala capital. Overall seven mysterious deaths in the family are under scrutiny and the investigators have marked out a few baffling aspects about the death of Jayamadhavan Nair, the last in a series reported from the wealthy family in a little over quarter century.
According to Raveendran Nair, the caretaker of the house who is under a cloud of suspicion, he had spoken to Jayamadhavan over phone till 10pm the previous night. But when Raveendran reached Jayamadhavan’s house at 7am on April 2, the latter was seen lying on the floor presumably after falling from his cot, police sources say.
As per Raveendran's statement to the police, Jayamadhavan was taken to the Medical College Hospital in an autorickshaw arranged by Sahadevan, another caretaker. However, Jayamadhavan was declared dead by 8:30am the same day.
The police have found several discrepancies in the statement given by Raveendran on the day of Jayamadhavan’s death and are focusing on them.
The police are baffled as Raveendran had said the main door of the Koodathil House was never locked at night. If this is true, Jayamadhavan was a soft target for an assault and the police are investigating who all were the regular visitors there. But it is hard to believe that Jayamadhavan slept in the big house without locking the door.
Raveendran had also claimed that he had raised an unconscious Jaymadhavan all by himself from the floor and laid him on the cot. The police also point out that this was impossible. The investigators are curious as to why Raveendran had failed to inform anybody else about the incident.
There were injuries on Jayamadhavan’s body, but it is not clear whether they were the cause of his death. An autopsy had been carried out on Jayamadhavan’s body. But, the report of the chemical analysis of his internal organs is yet to be released.
Another fact that raises the suspicion is that the maid Leela had reportedly cleaned Jayamadhavan’s room in a hurry and there was a delay in taking him to hospital. Moreover, the unconscious man was not rushed to a hospital that was nearby.
Though Raveendran had claimed that Jayamadhavan was taken to Medical College Hospital in an autorickshaw arranged by the second caretaker Sahadevan, the latter denied it.
Further raising suspicion about a foul play, Sahadevan did not turn up at the house after Jayamadhavan’s death. Crucially Sahadevan had received money from Raveendran soon after Jayamadhavan’s death. Moreover, Raveendran is still making payments to Leela. Police suspect a quid pro quo as it uncovered all these developments during the recent probe soon after a couple of complaints alleging nefarious activities likely with the aim of cornering vast properties of the Koodathil family.
As reported earlier Raveendran himself got a part of the property in his name soon after Jayamadhavan’s death and another probe is already under way regarding the suspected property grab.
Another discrepancy that the police have zeroed in on is Leela's statement that the deceased used to take several tablets. However, an investigation showed that Jayamadhavan was a healthy person. Cops suspect that he could have been poisoned with a tablet, however, the police had not examined Jayamadhavan’s room.
As reported earlier a 12-member team has been formed to investigate about the mysterious deaths and the alleged illegal transfer of assets of the family. The seven deceased were Gopinathan Nair; his wife Sumukhiamma; the couple's three children Jayasree, Jayabalakrishnan and Jayaprakash; their kin Unnikrishnan Nair and Jayamadhavan Nair.
Currently, the probe team would investigate the mysterious deaths of Jayamadhavan Nair, 62, and Jayaprakash. The FIR submitted by the police stated that land and house, worth crores of rupees, owned by Jayamadhavan was taken over by Raveendran through three different tactics. First, Jayamadhavan and his relatives were coerced to file a case that a kin had taken over the land. During the out-of-the-court settlement, Raveendran and his aide Sahadevan, who are not relatives of those party to the case, also got a share of the land. Second, Raveendran allegedly sold the property of Jayamadhavan and pocketed the money. And finally, Raveendran, friend Anil Kumar and the maid colluded to forge a fake will and took over the land and the house, the FIR stated.
