THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police probing the murder of a 38-year-old woman staffer of a plant nursery near Ambalamukku has released a sketch of the suspect. The sketch was prepared after the police managed to get his visuals from a CCTV camera installed near the nursery. Nedumangad native Vineetha Mol was found dead with three wounds on her neck in a corner of the nursery on Sunday afternoon.
The suspect could be seen in the CCTV footage walking along Ambalamukku-Kuravankonam road. He was spotted wearing a full-sleeve shirt, trousers and a cap, while the face was covered with a mask. The police said the suspect spoke a corrupted version of Malayalam and one of his hands was not functioning suggesting that he could have sustained injuries in it during the murder. The police said the man supposedly entered the shop after 11 am and came out of it about 20 minutes later.
After coming out of the nursery, he boarded an autorickshaw and headed towards Muttada. Peroorkada SHO Sajikumar V said the suspect could be a non-Kerala man and he might have sustained injuries in his hand during the murder.
“The autorickshaw driver, who had dropped the suspect at Muttada, has been identified. He told us that the suspect was talking indistinctly in Malayalam and it appeared as if he was not a Keralite,” the SHO said. It was also found that he was not moving one of his hands, igniting suspicion that he could have sustained wounds while trying to stab the woman, the SHO added. “Though we have not got any calls from the public till evening after the sketch was released, we are hoping for a breakthrough soon. We are scouring CCTV cameras for further leads,” the SHO said.
The police have already secured the mobile phone of the deceased and sent it for forensic examination. The police suspect that the murder was committed during a robbery bid as a gold chain weighing four sovereigns worn by the woman had gone missing.