Thiruvananthapuram city police, probing the suicide of a woman Intelligence Bureau (IB) officer in Thiruvananthapuram, have retrieved her chats with Sukanth Suresh, who is arraigned as the prime accused in the case.
The IB officer was found dead on railway tracks at Chackai on March 24. Her family filed a complaint with the police alleging that she had died by suicide, and Sukanth, who was an IB officer at Kochi airport, was responsible for her demise. According to the family's complaint, Sukanth was in a relationship with the woman and later backed out, which caused her emotional stress, and she was forced to take her own life.

The police had earlier seized a mobile phone and an iPad from Sukanth's residence in Kochi. Later, two passbooks and a hard disk were taken from his residence at Edappal. The police officials said that chats were retrieved from one of his devices. It showed a series of exchanges between the woman officer and Sukanth, allegedly following a break-up. "The chats reveal that Sukanth used provocative language and there were heated arguments between them," a police official said. Sukanth faces charges of rape, cheating and abetment of suicide. The High Court will pass a verdict on his bail plea on Monday. The crucial discovery of chats lends solidity to police contention against his bail plea.

Police said Sukanth was already in a relationship with another woman based in Kochi when he befriended the IB officer in Thiruvananthapuram. Later, the relationship turned sour as Sukanth allegedly pressed for a break-up.

Sukanth has been absconding for over a month. He has avoided using phone, ATM, credit card and any kind of transactions in his two bank accounts, making it difficult for the cops to track him. The police have named his uncle Mohanan as the second accused in the case on charges of harbouring Sukanth, wanted for abetment of suicide.

Police have learnt that Mohanan helped Sukanth escape to Chennai, where they allegedly had a fall-out and went their separate ways. The police also conducted a search in Pondicherry and Bengaluru but could not find any leads. The High Court, while considering the bail plea, pulled up the cops for lapses in arresting Sukanth.