The Crime Branch (CB) squad on Friday exhumed the skeletal remains of a man who was suspected to have been murdered at Poloor near Parambil Bazaar in Kozhikode district nearly three years ago.
CB sources said the skull exhumed from a graveyard at West Hill would be used for forensic facial reconstruction to identify the victim.
Though the investigation team had reasons to believe that the victim was a Keralite, it can be confirmed only on receiving the facial reconstruction. It was on Thursday that the CB squad with the support of forensic experts started inspection at the graveyard for exhuming the remains.
Though a Mukkom native, who was earlier arrested on the charge of a twin murder, was suspected to be behind the incident, preliminary investigation could not find evidence to prove his role. The man had been interrogated several times by the Crime Branch squad.
It was in September 2017 that the charred body of a 40-year-old man was found in a bush. The body was reportedly burnt in such a way to prevent identification. An investigation by the local police had concluded that it was a case of strangulation. Though the police carried out a three-month-long probe, they could not zero in on any suspect or identify the body. According to CB sources, the probe team has a list of suspects, and one of them will be quizzed on completion of the facial reconstruction process. DNA sampling too will be required to confirm the identity of the victim, they said.
In Kozhikode district, the Crime Branch had adopted the DNA sampling method in cracking a twin murder case which took place nearly three years ago at Manassery in Mukkom. Birju, 53, who was accused of murdering his mother and another close aide who allegedly assisted him in the matricide, was nabbed after the Crime Branch formed a special squad.
The identification of Birju’s close aide was a challenge for the squad as his body was found in a decapitated state with severed limbs. The accused had abandoned the body parts in different locations to mislead investigators.
