The Kattappana police have launched a probe into the suspected murder of two persons under sorcery. The police recently arrested two youths, Vishnu Vijayan, 27, and Nitheesh, 31, both residents of Kakkattukada, near Kattappana, in connection with a case of theft. Sources said the ‘double murder’ came to light when the youth were interrogated. “The accused tried to steal from a workshop in Kattappana last Saturday. The owner’s son caught them and handed them over to the police,” said an official.
After the interrogation, the police went to Vishnu’s house and found his mother and 30-year-old sister locked inside the house. “They were in a deranged state and his 60-year-old father was missing. We shifted the two women to a care centre. Nitheesh, a suspected sorcerer, had a child with Vishnu’s sister. Our assumption is that Vishnu’s father and the newborn were murdered,” the official added.
The police suspect that the newborn was taken away from its mother by Nitheesh on the pretext of giving it to a ‘Gandharvan’. The child, according to officials, was murdered four days after birth. “The newborn was apparently murdered six years ago and the 60-year-old man was killed around six months ago. It is suspected that the newborn was buried inside the old house of the accused near Kattappana. Later, the accused sold the house and moved to Kakkattukada. They killed the old man in the new house, buried his body and covered it with cement. The police also found evidence of black magic and sorcery,” the official added.
Sources said that the State Special Branch was also probing the incident.
