KOCHI: The Kochi city police are planning to carry out a DNA test to identify an unidentified body found in Goa. The body is believed to belong to a Perumanoor youth who went missing in November 2021, police said. The development in the missing youth case comes at a time when three persons have been arrested for the alleged murder of Jeff John Louis, 27, in Goa.
The individuals apprehended in the case are Anil Chacko, 28, Stephin Thomas, 24, both natives of Velloor in Kottayam, and Vishnu T V, 25, from Vythiri in Wayanad. A police team from Ernakulam South police station, along with the two arrested suspects, recently visited Goa to collect evidence. They returned to Kochi after gathering crucial information on Saturday.
Goa police had recovered a decomposed body in 2021. An unnatural death case was registered at Anjuna police station there. As the deceased could not be identified, the body was buried after preserving DNA samples, photographs and the post-mortem report. The accused persons murdered Jeff at Vagator village and dumped his body at an isolated place. As part of evidence collection, accused Anil and Vishnu were taken to the place where they murdered Jeff by hitting his head with a stone and assaulting him.
Goa police have handed over the postmortem report, DNA samples and photographs of the dead body,” a police officer said. The primary challenge facing the investigation team is to conclusively establish whether the recovered body is indeed that of Jeff. To achieve this, the police have decided to conduct a DNA test.
The officer stated, “We will collect DNA samples from Jeff’s close relatives. To facilitate this, a petition will be filed in court to seek permission for collecting DNA samples from the relatives. Based on the evidence gathered and the confessions of the accused, we believe the deceased to be Jeff. The DNA test is crucial in this case.”
Jeff, who was known to have a history of drug abuse, was allegedly lured to Goa by the accused with the promise of starting a business there. However, a dispute over financial matters related to drugs reportedly led to the tragic events that resulted in his murder.
