KOCHI: The police have confirmed that a Perumanoor youth who reportedly went missing in November 2021 was murdered by a gang in Goa over financial dealings linked to a drug deal. The deceased is Jeff John Louis, 27.
The Ernakulam South police arrested three persons in connection with the murder on Saturday. The arrested are Anil Chacko, 28, and Stephin Thomas, 24, both natives of Velloor in Kottayam and Vishnu T V, 25, of Vythiri in Wayanad.
According to the police, Jeff, who could not complete his MBA education, was addicted to drugs. He used to visit Goa frequently and returned only after several weeks. However, when he left for Goa in November 2021, he did not return even after several weeks, which made his mother Gladis lodge a missing complaint with Ernakulam South police.
Though the police conducted an inquiry with the assistance of the cyber cell, his location could not be traced, and the probe hit a dead-end.
However, the case took a U-turn when the police arrested a history sheeter, who was close to one of the accused and Jeff, a few weeks ago in another case.
He told the police that a Kochi youth was murdered in Goa by his cousin and his friend. Subsequently, the police checked the pending missing cases in Kochi to identify the murdered person as Jeff.
“The arrested youths have confessed to murdering Jeff in Goa in 2021. We will get to know more about the case when we take the trio to Goa for evidence collection. The court has granted the custody of the accused to the police for 13 days. We will travel to Goa soon as part of the probe. Attempts are on to recover Jeff’s body,” said Faisal M S, Ernakulam South SHO.
It was from Anil that the police got information about the murder. He told the police that his cousin Stephin and his friend Vishnu murdered Jeff. “Jeff and Anil were close friends. They had financial dealings in connection with drugs. However, a clash erupted between them over payment for drugs.
The trio killed Jeff by hitting him with stones and brutally assaulting him. Later, they dumped the body in an isolated place. They also destroyed his mobile phone and SIM card to prevent anyone from knowing about the murder,” a police officer part of the investigation team said. Anil, a history-sheeter, has held several preventive detentions under KAAPA. Stephin is also accused in several criminal cases.
Skeleton suspected to be that of Jeff recovered in Goa
Following information from the Kochi City police, cops in Goa have recovered a skeleton suspected to be that of Jeff. The skeleton is in the custody of Anjuna police. Based on the information passed by the Kochi City police, the Anjuna police conducted a probe and found that the body was dumped at a place under their station limits in Goa.
A team from Kochi City police has reached Goa as part of the probe. Soon, the police team from Kochi will move to Goa with the three arrested for identification and evidence collection. On the other hand, the police are checking whether a separate murder case has to be registered in Goa as the homicide took place there.