Kozhikode: The special investigation team, probing the Koodathayi serial killings, is trying to track down a close woman friend of prime accused Jolly Joseph.
Jolly, who has been arrested over the murder of her first husband Roy Thomas, had allegedly poisoned the other five members of his family one after the other from 2002 to 2016. A police investigation had also found that she had been pretending to be a lecturer at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Calicut.
The police believe that if they were to question the woman friend, who worked at a tailoring shop near NIT, they would get more information about Jolly's ‘stint’ at the premier institution. The police found a lot of photos of Jolly with the woman when they checked Jolly's mobile phone. However, Jolly refused to divulge any details about this woman.
The tailoring shop is not functioning now. The woman and Jolly had even been to the annual Ragam fest held at the NIT in March this year. The cops also came across photos of Jolly, wearing the NIT ID card, and posing with the woman at the fest venue.
During the initial round of questioning, the police had found that Sulekha, owner of a beauty parlour near the NIT, and revenue official Jayasree S Warrier were Jolly's close friends. Only after Jolly was arrested, the cops checked her phone and found the photos with the woman.
Real estate deals too?
The cops have also received information that Jolly Joseph was involved in real estate deals near the NIT.
Jolly got acquainted with a former CPM local secretary, K Manoj, who had signed on the fake will forged by her, through a property deal.
Jolly had reportedly handed over an advance amount of Rs 1 lakh to buy some land in the NIT surroundings. She had given the money via two cheques. Though the deal did not happen, Manoj reportedly did not return the money and they had a fallout. After Jolly persisted, Manoj returned the money over several times.
Manoj had given the money to a wayside kiosk at the Kattangal Junction near the NIT. During the evidence collection the other day, Jolly had pointed out the kiosk to the police. The cops had taken the statements of the kiosk owner.
While tracking down Jolly's real estate dealings, the police also stumbled upon the property deal with Congress worker Ramakrishnan and his subsequent death.
Jolly maintains solemn silence
The Thamarassery judicial first-class magistrate court on Wednesday extended the police custody of Jolly, and co-accused M S Mathew and Prajikumar. The magistrate asked all the three accused if they faced any problems in the police custody several times. Though Jolly stood in hesitation for a while, she shook her head in the negative. The magistrate again asked her to speak up if she had any trouble, but then Jolly stood silent. Magistrate M Abdul Rahim then gestured the accused to come forward and repeated the question but got no answer.
Finally, when her advocate got a chance to interact with Jolly, he reportedly asked, “You could have said you were tired?”
Before the accused were presented in court, the advocates were not able to meet them. Though the advocate for Jolly had presented a bail petition, citing eight reasons, the court postponed the hearing on it.
The prosecution pointed out that Jolly and the co-accused were still hiding crucial information and this was proving to be a hindrance in connecting the missing dots in the case. Even on the ration card, Jolly's profession was given as a teacher. A probe into this was on at the taluk supply office.
The court allowed the wife of the third accused Prajikumar to talk to him for 10 minutes.
Accused to be arrested over other cases?
The accused were arrested in connection with the murder of Roy Thomas on October 5. The FIRs into the other five murders were filed only recently. Apart from Roy, his parents Tom Thomas and Annamma, his maternal uncle Mathew Manjadiyil, his cousin Shaju’s wife Sily and her daughter Alphine were the victims of the sinister plot.
The probe team can keep the accused in custody till October 19, as per the norms. For this, the probe team sought for three more days in custody.
To seek further custody of the accused, the police would have to record their arrest in any of the newly registered five murder cases. The probe team has initiated procedures for this. The FIR on the murder cases of Tom Thomas, Annamma, Mathew and Alphine are filed at Kodenchery police station, and Sily's death at the Thamarassery station.
