Koodathayi serial murders: Jolly's custody extended as cyanide trail leads to Coimbatore

Jolly's custody extended as cyanide trail leads to Coimbatore
MS Mathew, Jolly Joseph and Prajikumar

Kozhikode: The police custody of multiple murder accused Jolly Joseph and others has been extended until Friday after the investigators submitted that they wanted to take the accused to several places including Coimbatore where one of the accused is suspected to have bought the cyanide used to kill five people in the north Kerala village.

Jolly Joseph, accused of murdering her husband and five others in the family between 2002 and 2016, and two others were produced before a court at Thamarasseri after their seven-day remand ended on Wednesday. Though the police sought three more days of custody, the court granted only two.

Prajikumar, a goldsmith accused of supplying Jolly with the deadly cyanide, might have bought the chemical from Coimbatore in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, the police said. He was granted 10 minutes to speak to his wife in the court.

Moving Jolly's bail petition before the court, Jolly's counsel said that the accused was grilled day and night. The accused said that they had no complaints against the police. 

The police are exploring all angles of the murder mystery. A government officer who colluded with Jolly to forge a will was summoned to the deputy collector's office for the second consecutive day to explain the offence. 

Probe into the suspicious deaths began after Rojo, the US-based brother of Jolly's first husband Roy Thomas, filed a complaint seeking a probe into the 6 deaths -- including that of his parents, brother and three other family members.

As investigations began, Jolly was arrested early this month along with the two others. Six separate cases have been registered and investigation is in progress.

Meanwhile, Rojo and sister Renji and Jolly's two sons appeared before investigating officers for the second day to record their statements.

Crime branch officials also questioned Shaju, Jolly's present husband and his father Xavier for the third time regarding the death of Sily, Shaju's first wife.

Sily's relatives raised a fresh complaint on Wednesday stating that their sister died on the day she went for a wedding and about 320 gm of gold ornaments had gone missing.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.