Kerala: Goons hand suspected in skeleton found in barrel

Kochi: There is yet another twist in the probe into the skeleton in drum case with the special police team now focusing on the suspected involvement of a gang behind the murder of Udayamperoor native Shakuntala and that of another man whose body was found in a sack from Nettoor lake. Though they have found that Shakuntala was murdered by T.M. Sajith, a native of Eroor who had committed suicide soon after the recovery of the skeleton, the team now suspects the latter and also Aswathy, daughter of Shakuntala and lover of Sajith, to be members of the Thiruvankulam-based gang.

According to sources, cops got leads to the gang by tapping Aswathy’s phone. They said the gang was led by a woman under whose shop Aswathy was earlier working. The murdered Shakuntala had over '6 lakh in her account, mainly from accident compensation and sale of her land, and Aswathy and Sajith wanted a share of that money and used to quarrel with her. “That money is now missing from the bank, and we suspect the involvement of the gang,” an officer said. Cops have submitted a petition before the court seeking nod to conduct polygraph test on Aswathy.

“There are several contradictions in her statements, and we hope to find leads towards our doubts about the gang after the lie test,” he said. The team also is investigating whether the same gang is involved in the murder of a youth whose body was recovered from the Nettoor lake.  “His body too was found stacked inside a sack filled with bricks, similar to the manner in which the body of Shakuntala was hidden in the plastic drum,” they said. The barrel containing the skeleton was found adrift on the banks of Kumbalam lake on January 8.