Bengaluru: The family of the two Keralite software engineers, whose decomposed bodies were found in a deserted plot of land off the city last month, alleges the Karnataka Police of inaction and derailing the probe into the mysterious deaths.
The couple, Abhijit Mohan, 25, hailing from Agali in Palakkad and Sree Lakshmi, 21, hailing from Mala in Thrissur district, were working with an IT major in Electronic City in Bengaluru. Their death came to light when a man found their decomposed bodies on November 29 and alerted the police.
Abhijit was the team lead, which Sree Lakshmi joined six months ago.
Even after two weeks, the Hebbagodi Police seems to have no clue about the deaths. The police are yet to obtain the post-mortem reports of Abhijit and Sree Lakshmi.
Police apathy
"The police are withholding all reports related to the deaths," said advocate T O Rajitha, who is the counsel for Sree Lakshmi's family.
The family has been waiting for the post-mortem report to approach the court to ask for a detailed investigation into the circumstances that led to the deaths.
Rajitha said that she was not sure if the police had even conducted a forensic test. Strangely, the police blamed the Karnataka assembly by-elections for the delay in issuing the post-mortem reports.
Even after a week from the declaration of election results, there is no move from the police, the family said.
Initially, the Hebbagodi police claimed that it was a suicide pact. The police behaviour was no better than their counterparts in the adjoining Parappana Agrahara station, who just preferred to sit on the missing complaints filed by the families of Sree Lakshmi and Abhijit on October 13.
The Hebbagodi police are in a hurry to close the case as suicide, the families allege.
The distress messages
However, the last voice message sent by one of the engineers, however, debunk the police theory of suicide.
"Sree Lakshmi has travelled with me to Coimbatore," Abhijit had sent a voice message to his friend on October 11. "Don't get tense. We are going to my house. Don't worry about it. We just left. We didn't think of anything else."
However, the two colleagues never reached home. In fact, they never left Bengaluru. Their bodies were found 48 days later from an isolated swamp at Anekal. They seemed to have hanged from a tree branch. The decomposed heads had severed from the bodies.
The Parappana Agrahara police sought to cover up their failure by putting the blame on the mourning families. They said that the techie couple were in love and they were decided to commit suicide after their families objected to their union. The police even planted news reports suggesting that the victims belonged to two castes, which turned out to be false information.
The relatives cry foul on the basis of clear evidence. They had handed over several voice message and other messages to the police, suggesting that the duo were getting ready to go home.
"She said she wanted to go with me. She did so. I was in a hurry. She even forgot to get her mobile phone. We are off to Salem on our way to Kerala. My mobile was out of range. That's why we couldn't speak earlier. It could be switched off anytime."
Around the same time, Sree Lakshmi's friend received a message from her on WhatsApp. The message backed the statements by Sree Lakshmi's relatives that she had planned to go home to be with her mother who was about to undergo a surgery.
"My mother is going to be admitted (to a hospital). I am going home," Sree Lakshmi said. "I haven't told anyone. I might not come back. Don't you create a scene. I will call you once I reach home. My phone is in the locker. Please keep it with you. Abhichettan is also with me."
Another message followed: "Don't worry at all. I am with Abhichettan. I will go home from here. I will let you know if I would come back or not."
All those messages suggested that the duo got on to a train to Coimbatore to go home. Even surveillance camera footage proves the fact. Abhijit was seen buying three bottles of beer from a beverage shop about 2 kilometres away from the railway station at 7.45pm on October 11. Sree Lakshmi was waiting for him a few yards away.
They sent the messages to their friends after that. The messages made it clear that Abhijit met Sree Lakshmi at their office and they decided to go home the same day. Nobody knows what happened to them during the trip. The police are not able to explain what prompted the couple to cut short their journey and return to Bengaluru.
Muddying the case further, the families came to know about a series of messages Abhijit sent to his friends on October 12. Abhijit shared a Google Maps location of Chintala Madiwala to his friends on WhatsApp. He sounded in distress. "Please come to this location immediately." When the friend asked him what happened, he replied, "It is an emergency. Don' be late please."
The friends reached the spot and called up Abhijit. They even spoke to him. Abhijit asked them to proceed further to where he was. The friends thought they heard Abhijit whistling to let them know of the exact location. They searched for a while, in vain. They later said that they were afraid to go further because it was a deserted place.
The friends revealed the incident on the next day. The relatives went to the place to search for the couple. They did not find anything amiss. Abhijit's phone number was switched off in the meantime. They called off the search. When they reported the messages to the police, the cops just kept searching the hotels and temple grounds around the area. The bodies were to be found in the same area 48 days later.
How did Abhijjt and Sree Lakshmi ended up in Madiwala? What prompted Abhijit to send out the distress messages? Why did the friends decide to stop searching for him? Why were the police in a hurry to close the case as suicides? Why do the police delay the post-mortem reports? Were there forensic tests done on the bodies in the first place?
Families of Abhijit and Sree Lakshmi are waiting for answers.
