Following a confession made by Nitheesh (31), an accused in the Kattappana double murder case, the police on Sunday exhumed a body, suspected to be of Nellanikkal N.G. Vijayan (60) of Kakkattukada.
According to the police, they removed the concrete flooring of the house where the accused used to reside and recovered the body, which was found in a folded condition in a nearly 4-foot pit. The body was covered with a plastic box. Parts of the victim’s attires were also discovered. The police said a DNA test would be conducted to confirm the identity of the victim. A hammer which was used to murder the victim was also recovered from the pit.
District Police Chief T.K. Vishnu Pradeep confirmed that the police had recovered the body. “The body was in an almost decomposed state,” he said.
According to the police, after an inquest and an initial post-mortem examination, the remains of the body were sent to the Kottayam Government Medical College Hospital. “Only a scientific verification can confirm if the remains are of Vijayan,” said the police.
According to the police, Vijayan was murdered a few days before last Onam. The accused buried the body inside the house with the assistance of Vijayan’s wife and son.
Infant’s body not found
On Sunday evening, the police also searched the cattle shed of a house at Sagara Junction, where the body of a newborn was buried. However, during the initial search, the police could not find the remains of the newborn. According to officials, the search was temporarily stopped on Sunday evening. The police collected the soil from the cattle shed for detailed inspection.
According to sources, there is less likelihood of retrieving the newborn’s remains. “The body was buried four days after the child’s birth. The incident occurred in July 2016,” said a source.
During interrogation, Nitheesh and Vishnu, the two accused, confessed to have committed the double murders.
