The attempt by the Kochi police to extract further information from Sanu Mohan, who stands accused of murdering his teenage daughter, by working up emotions through a confrontational meeting with his wife proved futile as the accused turned out to be stone cold and emotionless all through.
The investigation team probing the case had capped the days-long interrogation of the accused by arranging a session in the presence of his wife and her sister and husband on Wednesday in an effort to create some drama and flush out familial emotions and break him in the process.
“But he was absolutely emotionless even as his wife and relatives ended up emotionally drained. It turns out that he wasn’t even emotionally connected to his wife. They now suspect that he had been plotting the entire thing for long and are connecting the dots about his actions and conversations in the lead-up. Police had also all along suspected that he had planned and plotted it all much in advance,” said C.H. Nagaraju, District Police Chief (Kochi City).
The police had been questioning him from the very first day of his 10-day custody and even when he was taken across the borders to Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Goa for evidence collection. The investigation team remains confident that the information that they have extracted so far could be adequate to seal the case.
With regard to the mystery surrounding the presence of alcohol in the body of the 13-year-old that was found on Muttar river a day after she had gone missing, the police now suspect that the accused could have spiked her drink. “The victim was very fond of coca-cola and used to take it whenever she had snacks from outside. So, possibly, he could have spiked her drink before smothering her and then taking her in an unconscious state from their apartment. Eyewitness accounts state that he was found carrying the girl on his shoulders. Besides, we had also found a bottle in his car,” said Mr. Nagaraju.
The accused will be produced in court on Thursday when his police custody is set to end. The police will seek a further four days’ custody for extracting as much information as possible to tie up the loose ends.
