KOLLAM: DIG R Nishanthini has directed the Kollam rural crime branch to investigate the abduction of six-year-old Abigel Sara Reji near her home in Oyoor on November 27. DySP M M Jose will lead a probe team of 13 officials.
The Pooyappally police was probing the crime and arrested three members of a family -- KR Padmakumar, his wife Anitha Kumari and daughter Anupama Padman. The police will file an application seeking their custody in the next two days, after which they will initiate evidence collection.
Padmakumar is lodged in the Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail, while Anitha are Anupama are in the Attakulangara Women’s Jail. The family’s financial troubles were cited as the motive for the crime. Initial findings point to Anitha being the mastermind.
The police said the accused did not have external support. Around 20 hours after she was abducted, Abigel was dropped off at Asramam Maidan by Anitha, owing to mounting pressure from the police investigation and media attention to the case.