KOZHIKODE: Fifteen months after a man went missing from Kozhikode, police said they have recovered his decomposed body from a forest area near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. He was reportedly murdered over a financial dispute.
The remains, suspected to be that of Hemachandran, 53, a native of Sultan Bathery in Wayanad, were found buried in Coffee Kadu, which comes under the TANTEA plantation, at Cherambadi in TN on Saturday.
Hemachandran reportedly went missing from his rented residence in Mayanad near Kozhikode Medical College on March 20, 2024. On April 1, his family filed a missing person complaint at the Kozhikode Medical College police station.
During the course of the investigation, police learned that Hemachandran, a small-time chit fund operator, had extensive financial dealings with several individuals.
Officers initially suspected that he might have gone into hiding to evade lenders to whom he owed money. A detailed probe into his financial transactions revealed several irregularities, prompting the Kozhikode city commissioner to form a special investigation team on May 24, 2024.
“During the inquiry, we discovered that Hemachandran was lured out of his house by a female acquaintance and subsequently abducted in connection with a financial dispute,” a police officer said.
Prime accused remains at large
Following this, a case was registered against three persons. Two of them, Jyotish Kumar and Ajesh B S, both natives of Sulthan Bathery, were later taken into custody.
During interrogation, the accused reportedly confessed to murdering Hemachandran and burying his body in the Cherambadi forest.
Acting on their information, a search operation was launched leading to the recovery of the body in the presence of Medical College ACP A Umesh.
The body was found in a 4ft-deep pit, face-down and partially decomposed. Exhuming works started at 10 am and continued till 4 pm on Saturday.
“The body was identified as that of Hemachandran based on preliminary examination. It has been sent to Nilgiris Medical College, Ooty, for conducting postmortem examination, after which it will be handed over to his relatives,” police said.
Officials from the Tamil Nadu revenue department, police, and forest authorities were present during the recovery procedures.
Meanwhile, the prime accused in the case remains at large, with investigators suspecting that he may have fled the country.