PALAKKAD: An elderly couple - Swaminathan, 75, alias Appuettan, and Premakumari, 63, of Kunninmedu house, Pulackalparambu at Tholannur near Kottayi - was found murdered in their house on Wednesday. The police have taken the accused - Sadanandan, 53, of Choppati house, Mannam post, North Paravur - into custody.The incident was first noticed by the milkmaid, Rajalakshmi, at 7 am. While Swaminathan and Premakumari were lying in a pool of blood, their daughter-in-law - Sreeja - was found gagged with her hands and legs tied. Swaminathan’s brother Chandran was later called in and he immediately admitted Sreeja to the District Hospital here. Kuzhalmannam Circle Inspector Siddique is investigating the case under the supervision of Crime Branch DySP Sasikumar.
Thrissur Range IG M R Ajith Kumar and Malappuram SP - who is in charge of Palakkad - Debesh Kumar Behera told reporters prima facie evidence pointed to the involvement of Sreeja and her close friend Sadanandan in the crime. Sreeja’s husband Pradeep Kumar is in the Armed forces and posted in Gujarat.The police said Sadanandan and Sreeja were involved in a relationship for quite some time. Further details will be available only after Sreeja is discharged from the hospital, the police said.
Swaminathan, an ex-serviceman, was hit on the head with a hammer and stabbed in the abdomen while Premakumari was smothered with a pillow and stabbed. There was chilli powder strewn around the place. Some jewellery of Sreeja was also recovered from Sadanandan. The police recounted while Premakumari had been admitted to hospital on August 31, Swaminathan - who was alone at home - had complained to the local police station some persons had tried to kill him by throwing a live electric wire into his room. After the incident, Sreeja - who was living in Mankara and is the daughter of Premakumari’s brother- had come to stay along with her father-in-law at the house in Tholannur.
Sreeja’s son, an engineering college student, was staying in her ancestral house at Maankurissy near Ottappalam. The police said Sreeja is also under surveillance and will be taken into custody after she is discharged. Sadanandan had earlier been booked in an explosives’ case in Ernakulam. He was living near Mankara, eking out a living doing odd jobs. The police said a crime squad constituted immediately after the crime succeeded in nabbing the accused. DySP (Alathur) Sasikumar, K M Saidali (Shoranur), Additional District Magistrate S Vijayan, Circle Inspectors K A Elizabeth (Alathur), Siddique (Kuzhalmannam) and Sunil Kumar (Vadakkencherry) and Kuthanur 2 village officer Sivasankaran reached the crime spot and conducted the necessary documentation of the scene of crime.