Four members of a family were found dead early Sunday morning inside their house in a posh locality in the Kerala capital, Thiruvananthapuram. While three bodies were found in a burnt state, the fourth was cut into pieces and kept in a bag at a multi-storey house near Cliff House, the Kerala Chief Minister’s official residence, at Nanthancode in Thiruvananthapuram.
Preliminary investigations suggested that this was a case of mass murder, said the police. Inspector General of Police (Thiruvananthapuram range) Manoj Abraham said the bodies were two-three days old and that three of them were charred beyond recognition.
“A clear picture will emerge only after forensic examinations and investigations,” he said.
The deceased were identified as Dr Jean Padma, a retired Regional Medical Officer, her husband Raja Thankam, a retired professor in history, their daughter Caroline, a medical student in a Chinese University, and lalitha, a relative. The deceased couple’s son, Cadell Jeansen Raja, said to be working in Australia, was missing after the incident.
The incident came to light after locals noticed thick smoke emanating from the doctor’s house in the wee hours of Sunday and alerted fire force personnel and the police, whose search led to the finding of the four bodies. Neighbours said that Caroline had reached home on vacation a few days ago.
Police have launched a manhunt for Cadell, issued a look-out notice for him and stepped up surveillance at the airport and the Central Railway Station in Thiruvananthapuram.
Some of the neighbours had reportedly seen Cadell fleeing the house by jumping over the compound wall. However, the police were yet to get any clue on the exact reason behind the murders.
The police, who had recovered machetes and axes from the house’s compound, believe that the quartret was murdered two or three days ago and the attempt was to destroy the bodies by burning down the entire house.
Neighbours said that Cadell had come home from Australia recently and his behavior did not seem normal in the last few days.
Police also found a half-burnt dummy with measures corresponding to the body measures of Cadell from the house. Police officials said that Cadell could have deliberately put it there to generate the feeling that all the five members of the family had been dead.
Meanwhile, Prof Raja Thankam’s brother said that he had not been able to contact the family over the phone for the past three days.
“Cadell said the other family members had gone on a tour to Kanyakumari and would be back in a couple of days. I had noticed some burn injury on his leg, but he gave me some reason for that,” he said.
