Black magic, revenge behind murder of Kerala family; police solve case

Police in Kerala on Monday claimed to be have solved the murder of a man, who practised black magic, and his family in Idukki after they arrested a person and attributed the crime to professional rivalry.

The bodies of K Krishnan (52), wife Susheela (50), daughter Arsha (22) and son Arjun (20) were found stacked in a newly-dug trench on the premises of their house in Thdopuzha on August 1.

Idukki’s superintendent of police KB Venugopal said the murders were committed by Aneesh, a former helper of Krishnan, with the help of his aide Libeesh. Libeesh, a motor mechanic from Thodupuzha, has been arrested.

Venugopal said Aneesh learnt sorcery and black magic from Krishnan as his helper and later started practising the rituals on his own. The senior official said Aneesh, however, was not as successful as his mentor and he suspected that Krishnan’s magical powers were responsible for his plight.

Venugopal said as a professional rivalry developed between two, Aneesh hatched a conspiracy to eliminate Krishnan six months ago and sought the help of his old friend Libeesh to carry out the crime.

“Aneesh was aware that Krishnan’s family was not friendly with neighbours and relatives. He also thought Krishnan was in the possession of some palm leaf scriptures dealing with black magic customs. After eliminating him he thought of possessing these scriptures,” the SP said adding the crime was committed over two days.

According to the police, Aneesh and Libeesh reached Krishnan’s house during the night on July 29 and attacked his goats. Krishnan came out of the house when he heard the goats’ loud bleats and was hit by the two men with an iron rod. After a few minutes, his wife Susheela also came to check what happened and both attacked her in a similar way.

Later, they entered the house and killed his daughter Arsha, a BEd student, and son Arjun. Police said the entire operation was executed in an hour and they left the house after keeping the bodies inside a locked room.

They returned to the house the next night and started searching for valuables and scriptures. They took many sovereigns of gold, Rs 3,500 in cash but failed to locate any scripture.

Police said Krishnan and his son were alive even after a day of the attack and that Aneesh and Libeesh hit their heads with a shovel to ensure their death. Later, they dug a pit and kept all the four bodies one over the other and left the house after cleaning the premises.

Their bodies were found on the third day after the neighbours did not see the family for a couple of days and saw unread newspapers outside their house.

“We hit a blind alley on several occasions. But our persistence paid off finally,” Venugopal said.

He added the police will be able to find out if more people were involved only after the arrest of the main accused.

State police chief Loknath Behra has announced a reward for members of the investigation team.

First Published: Aug 06, 2018 18:10 IST