THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Nearly a decade after the suspicious deaths of multiple members of the Koodam family at Karamana here, the Thiruvananthapuram city district crime branch arrested the family’s caretaker, Raveendran Nair, 60, on Tuesday.
The accused, who had been a suspect ever since the deaths and related cases came to light, was arrested after availing scientific evidence, including brain mapping and forensic analysis of documents.
Raveendran came under the shadow of suspicion in the earlier days of the probe itself, after the relatives and neighbours of the deceased alleged that he was trying to grab property worth crores using forged documents.
“The latest move came after we availed the results of brain mapping and forensic analysis. Raveendran had appeared for brain mapping in Bengaluru by 2025 end, the results of which were made available a few months back. The results aligned with our suspicion of him being the culprit. Moreover, we also received reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory that the documents, which he used to grab property from the family, were forged,” a top official from the district crime branch told TNIE. Raveendran was called up by the officials to record his statement on Tuesday, and his arrest was recorded by evening.
The seven deaths of the Koodam family took place over a period of 20 years, the last one in 2017. Koodam Gopinathan Nair, his wife Sumukhi Amma, daughter Jayasree, sons Balakrishnan, Jayaprakash, Gopinathan Nair’s brothers’ sons Unnikrishnan Nair and Jayamadhavan Nair were the deceased.
However, the last death triggered suspicions, and the Crime Branch registered a case only after the last two deaths.
In its initial findings itself, the crime branch termed the death of Jayamadhavan unnatural, as Raveendran deliberately created a delay in taking him to the hospital.
A relative of the family, Prasannakumari, filed a complaint, raising doubts about the deaths of Jayamadhavan and Jayaprakash.
She had stated in her complaint that Raveendran Nair had grabbed the property of the family worth `30 crore after forging a will in the name of a trust.
The investigation team had also requested the revenue and registration departments to verify and compile the property list of the Koodam family.
Over 20 years
The seven deaths of the Koodam family took place over a period of 20 years, the last one in 2017.
A relative filed a complaint raising doubts about the deaths of Jayamadhavan and Jayaprakash
She had stated that Raveendran Nair had grabbed the property worth `30 crore after forging a will in the name of a trust