A 53-year-old man suspected to have murdered an aged couple after barging into their residence at Tholannur, near Kottayi, here late on Tuesday was arrested by the police from the premises of the KSRTC bus stand here on Wednesday noon.
According to the police, Poolaykkal Parambil Swaminathan, 72, was found in a pool of blood inside the house with his throat slit. His wife Premakumari, 62, was strangled and her body was found in the same room where her husband was killed. Their daughter-in-law Sheeja was found inside the kitchen with her hands and legs tied and mouth stuffed with used cloth. She had sustained minor injuries in the attack and has been admitted to the Government District Hospital here.
M. Sadanandan, the suspect, hails from North Paravur in Ernakulam district.
According to the police, Sadanandan was allegedly in a relationship with Sheeja. He decided to kill the elderly couple after they came to know about the relationship and warned the daughter-in-law against continuing with it.
The police said the details of the way the crime was committed would be revealed only after a thorough interrogation of Sadanandan and Sheeja. The possibility of Sadanandan getting the help of other people in executing the murder also was being probed.
The couple’s neighbours came to know about the incident when the woman who supplied milk came to the house. She found Sheeja lying injured inside the kitchen. The police and local people soon came to the house on being alerted by the woman.
Senior police officials, including District Police Superintendent in-charge Debesh Kumar Behera, reached the spot and began investigation.
Meanwhile, relatives of the aged couple confirmed that Swaminathan had approached the Alathur police a week ago seeking protection to life and property. In his petition, Swaminathan had expressed fear that there was an attempt on their lives on an earlier occasion. It is alleged that the police had not taken the complaint seriously. Sadanandan reportedly confessed to the police that he had attempted to electrocute the couple.
Sheeja's husband is in the Army serving outside the State. They have a son.
