Sensation prevailed when police found three Keralites —Kottayam-based couple Naveen (39) and Devi B (39), and Devi’s friend Arya B Nair (29) from Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram —dead in a hotel room in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district on Tuesday under mysterious conditions.
Police said that the Hotel Blue Pine in Hapoli authorities on Tuesday alerted them about the incident and accordingly police recovered the bodies and taken to the district hospital for post-mortem.
While initial investigations suggest a possible case of suicide, authorities are awaiting the post-mortem report to draw a definitive conclusion. “A dedicated team of police personnel is currently investigating the case,” Lower Subansiri superintendent of police Keni Bagra said, declining to comment further on the ongoing investigation. “We will provide further information once we receive the necessary medical reports,” the SP said.
Police said that their investigation has revealed that the trio had reached the hotel on March 28 and they had flown to Guwahati on March 27 from Thiruvananthapuram airport.
During the examination of the scene, police discovered a suicide note stating: “We lived happily and we leave now.” The note also included the phone number of Devi's father, police said.
Cultural activist and Devi’s relative Soorya Krishnamoorthy alleged that “black magic was the cause of their death and there must be an awareness drive as even educated people fall into its trap”.
Devi, originally from Thiruvananthapuram (Moonamoodu), was an Ayurveda doctor. She got acquainted with Naveen, also an Ayurveda doctor from Meenadam (Kottayam), while they were working together at a hospital. Devi, the daughter of renowned wildlife photographer Balan Madhavan and Latha, married Naveen in 2011 and subsequently moved to Kottayam.
Devi and Arya were friends as they worked at a school in Thiruvananthapuram as teachers some years ago and their friendship grew over the years. Arya used to teach French and Devi German.
Police said they were leading an isolated life. “They were not active on social media but used to spend considerable time on the internet researching topics such as life after death, existence of aliens, intergalactic travel, different realms; etc...,” an officer said.
Arya’s father, Anil kumar, had filed a missing person report on March 27 after she disappeared. The Vattiyoorkavu police were attempting to locate her using her mobile phone's location. However, no missing person report was filed for Devi and Naveen, as they had informed their parents of their plans to go on a tour. On Tuesday, the parents of the deceased were contacted by Arunachal police informing them about their death.
