THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police department will felicitate 42 police officers and eight scientific officers of the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), who were part of the investigation on a Latvian woman tourist’s murder four years ago.
The Additional Sessions court on Friday had pronounced the two accused Umesh and Udayakumar guilty of murdering the 33-year-old woman on March 14, 2018. Vigilance ADGP Manoj Abraham, South Zone IG P Prakash, Deputy Commissioner V Ajith and ACP J K Dinil are among the officers who will be awarded with commendation certificates by the state police chief.
Manoj was the South Zone IG when the murder and the subsequent probe took place. Appointed as the head of investigation, he had directly monitored it as a foreign national was involved in the case. Prakash was then functioning as Thiruvananthapuram City Commissioner. Dinil was the chief investigating officer and played the key role from investigation to prosecution. Those who will be felicitated include all officers who were part of the investigation, interrogation of the accused, supervision of the probe, area search and intelligence collection, aiding in preparing the charge sheet, videography, photography, cyber assistance, victim support and court duty.
In a case that lacked eyewitnesses, it was circumstantial and forensic evidence that resulted in successful prosecution of the accused. Judge K Sanil Kumar had found Panathura residents Umesh, 28, and Udayakumar, 24, guilty of rape, murder, wrongful confinement, abduction, and sale of narcotic substances. The quantum of punishment will be announced on Monday.
The Latvian woman had arrived in Kerala for ayurveda treatment and went missing from Kovalam beach on March 14, 2018. Her putrefied body was recovered from a mangrove near Panathura 38 days later. In the absence of eyewitnesses, the prosecution relied on circumstantial evidence to establish the guilt of the two youngsters.