The crime rate in Kerala is high when compared to other states, as it is often said cases are properly registered in the state and all incidents get reported. Express opens the crime file to reveal shocking facts and figures
Chacko murder: Whodunit?
The sensational Chacko murder case of 1984 continues to remain a blot on the image of Kerala Police as main accused Sukumara Kurup is still at large. It was then forensic surgeon B Umadathan who unravelled the mystery in the case which could have been otherwise passed off as a normal accident case in which the driver died after the car caught fire. Umadathan, who conducted post-mortem examination, came to a conclusion that Chacko died of poisoning and his face and hair had been burnt elsewhere. Umadathan found that there were no residues of charcoal in the respiratory system, which should have been there had the victim been alive when the car caught fire and died inside the car. He also found that the stomach had a special odour of a poison. Based on Umadathan’s findings, the police unearthed the plot devised by Sukumara Kurup who faked his own death to claim insurance amount.
Mystery of missing lady
Liza Vays, a German woman tourist, who had come to the state in March, was reported missing in July 2019. The incident came to light when the 31-year-old woman’s family lodged a complaint with the state police that they had not heard from her. Four months on, police are still clueless on her wherebouts.
Mithila Mohan: Victim of business rivalry
It was on April 5, 2006, that hotelier and liquor baron V A Mohanan alias ‘Mithila’ Mohan was shot dead by two men. The men knocked on the door of his residence at Vennala in Kochi. As the businessman approached the door, one of the assailants whipped out a gun and shot him point blank. In April 2013, police arrested Santhosh Kumar after it was found that he had hired the shooters to kill Mohanan due to a business rivalry. However, the police couldn’t make further headway. The case was then handed over to the CBI, which has also been not able to make any arrests.
Abhimanyu: Nipped in bud
Abhimanyu, a second-year BSc student and activist of SFI, was stabbed to death at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, on July 1, 2018. Though the police arrested a couple of persons in connection with the incident, they couldn’t nab the people who actually stabbed the student and unravel the murder plot.
Jesna: The vanishing act
Jesna Maria James, a BCom student, went missing on March 22, 2018. On March 21, Jesna of Kunnathu House, Kollamula in Pathanamthitta district, had told her aunt that she would be visiting her at Mundakkayam the next day, but she did not make it. Before vanishing, she was last seen at Erumeli.
Rahul: Missing since 2005
Six-year-old Rahul, son of Mini and Raju of Alappuzha, went missing on May 18, 2005, while playing cricket with his friends near his house in Ashramam Ward. After police failed to trace him for several years, the case was handed over to the CBI. In 2012, the CBI submitted a closure report before the court saying it could not trace the boy.
Mishel: The missing link
Mishel Shaji Varghese, an 18-year-old girl, went missing on March 5, 2017, and later her body was found in backwaters off Kochi’s Willingdon Island. She was last seen at St Antony’s Church at Kaloor on March 5.
Shamna:Victim of medical negligence?
Shamna Tasnim, 21, second-year MBBS student of Ernakulam Government Medical College, died on July 18, 2016, after she was given an injection at the medical college. The police are yet to solve the case.
Terror tentacles
Despite Kerala being a highly literate state, it is one of the states severely affected by terrorism, including from internationally proscribed groups. After the Kozhikode twin blasts and killing of Keralites in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir, the intelligence agencies and NIA have turned their attention to Kerala. After 2014, when the establishment of ISIS was declared, Kerala is the state from where the highest number of Indians left for Syria and Afghanistan to join terror groups.
Drug cases: Kerala on a high
The sale of narcotic substances is skyrocketing in Kerala on an annual basis, such that even enforcement agencies are finding it hard to put a tab on it. An average of 23 drug seizures are made in Kerala every day, according to the data shared by enforcement agencies. An alarming fact is that in 90 per cent of cases, youths belonging to the 18-30 age group are arrested for sale, smuggling and abuse of such drugs. With an increase in the demand for drugs and narcotic substances, organised drug syndicates have started operations in the state.
An unflattering graph of life beyond the law
2012
In 2012, when the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released crime data, Kerala topped the list with the highest number of crimes. The data revealed Kerala had a crime rate of 424.1 (number of crimes per lakh population) which was more than double the national average of 187.6. What’s more, even Kochi’s crime rate stood at 1,879.8, while the average for other cities was around 341.9. NCRB’s 2016 data showed Kerala in the second position at 727 crimes per lakh population while Delhi reported the highest crime rate of 974. However, police officers say the crime rate has been high in Kerala because cases are properly registered in the state and all incidents get reported. People in Kerala are more aware of their rights and justice delivery system. Moreover, all petty crimes and cases related to protest marches are registered in the state while serious crimes like rape and murder are low in numbers.
It’s ‘Udta’ Kerala as the state has started trailing close to Punjab for being number 1 in drug abuse and trafficking. Nearly three tonnes of ganja were seized in Kerala in the first half of 2016, while it was just 810 kg in 2015. Heroin and hashish are the other two drugs frequently seized in Kerala. Nearly 12.78 kg of other psychotropic substances, including LSD, too were seized in 2016.
2018
In 2018, Kerala recorded 7,477 arrests in 6,616 drug cases and stood second after Punjab, which topped the list with 9,031 arrests in 7,869 cases.
While Punjab witnessed seizure of a considerable volume of contraband items like hashish, heroin, opium and Codeine-based cough syrups, Kerala recorded the seizure of mostly ganja.
