ALAPPUZHA: Jayachandran, whose confession led to the recovery of the body of a missing woman on Tuesday, had watched Malayalam megahit ‘Drishyam’ — directed by Jeethu Joseph and starring Mohanlal and Meena — five times to get ideas for destroying evidence and misleading the police.
The police recovered the body of Vijayalakshmi, 49, a native of Kulasekharapuram in Karunagappally who had been missing since November 6, from a vacant land near a newly-constructed house at Karoor near Ambalappuzha, after Jayachandran, 50, her paramour, confessed to killing her and burying the body there. An officer said Jayachandran, a fisherman from Karoor, killed Vijayalakshmi on the suspicion that she was in a relationship with another person.
The Karunagappally police had launched a probe after Vijayalakshmi’s relatives lodged a complaint saying she had been missing since November 6, the same day when Jayachandran allegedly murdered her.
“On the day, Jayachandran invited Vijayalakshmi to his house, saying he will be visiting the Ambalappuzha temple. His wife and son were not at home at the time,” said an officer. It is learnt he killed Vijayalakshmi by hitting her on the head with an iron rod, dragged the body to the vacant house near his home, and buried her in the land adjacent to it.
“After the murder, Jayachandran took Vijayalakshmi’s phone and went to Ernakulam in a KSRTC bus. Upon reaching there, he discarded the phone in a Kannur-bound bus,” said an officer.
“During interrogation, he told us that he saw ‘Drishyam’ five times and that it was an inspiration to destroy evidence. He had left the phone in the bus to mislead the police,” the officer said.
However, passengers of the bus found the phone before it left the station and handed it to the conductor, who in turn gave it to the station master. Looking to return the device to its owner, the station master and other employees turned the phone on. As soon as they did, the Karunagapally police probing Vijayalakshmi’s disappearance got an alert. They traced its tower location and contacted the Kochi police, which retrieved the phone.
Recovery of the device proved crucial in the investigation. For it contained WhatsApp texts between Vijayalakshmi, who had been living separately from her husband for the past few years, and Jayachandran, who is married. They also regularly contacted each other over the phone, the police found.
They traced Jayachandran and reached Karoor, only to find that he had gone fishing in the sea and would return after a week or two. In the meantime, the police collected the statement of Jayachandran’s wife, who said she knew Vijayalakshmi.
Suspecting that Jayachandran was trying to escape, the police contacted the fishing boat owner and ensured he was on board. When the boat reached Azheekkal on Sunday as per the police’s instructions, Jayachandran was taken into custody.
“He readily confessed to the crime. He said he burnt Vijayalakshmi’s dress inside the empty house; investigators have found ashes there. CCTV visuals from the Ambalappuzha temple premises and the statement of a witness helped the police conclude that Vijayalakshmi was with Jayachandran on the day of the crime,” said an officer.
Jayachandran regularly came to the Azheekkal harbour, while Vijayalakshmi was a worker there. They were in a relationship for the past two years. The police suspect they also had financial dealings.
An officer said the exact cause of death will be revealed only after an autopsy. The gold ornaments worn by Vijayalakshmi and the murder weapon were confiscated from Jayachandran’s house.
