Dismembered body parts and defunct mobile number: How police cracked Mukkam twin murders

Kozhikode: The successful efforts of the Crime Branch to crack an unresolved three-year-old murder case have unearthed horrific details with the arrest of the prime suspect. The arduous probe to zero in on the killer of the man, whose dismembered body parts were found at Chaliyam and Mukkam in Kozhikode district in 2017, finally resulted in the arrest of the elusive culprit, identified as Birju. He has now owned up to killing his mother, Jayavally, too with the aid of the man, Ismail, he had eliminated.

When Ismail sought money for the task done, Birju allegedly killed him and scattered his body parts at various places, the probe revealed.

The Crime Branch sleuths had identified Ismail to be the deceased in the first week of December 2019. It took one more month to zero in on Birju and nab him. However, the police stumbled upon another murder -- his mother's -- while unravelling the mystery behind the dismembered body parts by chasing several leads and questioning scores of people.

While Ismail was a native of Wandoor in Malappuram district, Birju was from Mukkam in Kozhikode.

Criminal profile

The police first prepared a criminal profile of Ismail, who had been involved in several cases. A detailed list was prepared on the number of cases against him, trips undertaken by him, his jobs, and friends. They also found out that he had married four times and all the wives were questioned.

When they were asked why no complaint was filed even after Ismail went missing for two years, one of the wives said that she assumed he had been jailed over some case.

The police then found that Ismail had last worked at a house at Mongam in Malappuram. The house owner told the police that Ismail had left that job by claiming that the salary of Rs 25,000 was not enough for him and that he was going to meet a certain ‘Achayan’.

As one of the body parts was found from Mukkam, the Crime Branch focussed on their probe in that region. One of his wives also lived in Mukkam. Ismail also had several friends in that region.

Scrutiny of financial dealings

During a probe into his financial dealings, one of his friends said that Ismail had spoken about an 'Achayan' who owed him Rs 2 lakh. Another acquaintance of his said that this money was a reward for killing a woman over property dispute. The police then made a list of unnatural deaths in Mukkam area.

Suicide at 70?

The police interest was piqued after they noticed Birju's mother Jayavally was 70 years old when she took her life. Why would a woman kill herself at that age? Her neighbours too said that they were suspicious about Jayavally's death. Jayavally had often told her neighbours that even though she had domestic problems, she would never commit suicide. The police also got to know about the property dispute with her son. But the son had left the village after selling the house and land two years ago.

Mysterious Achayan

However, the statement that Ismail arrived in Mukkam in search of 'Achayan' put the police in a spot. Birju is unlikely to be called as Achayan considering his religious community. However, the cops soon found that Birju was married to a Christian woman and she used to call him Achayan, a popular appellation for elder Christian men in Kerala. Some of his friends also followed suit and started calling him thus.

The police also found it suspicious that Birju had left his native place during the same time when Ismail's body parts were recovered. After it was ascertained that Birju and Ismail were friends and had financial dealings between them, the cops started to track him down.

Absconds and takes another guise

The police began their probe based on a photo of Birju they found in a property sale record. Even his close relatives did not know where Birju lived. They found a phone number from the school records of his daughter in Kozhikode. But that number had not been in use for two years.

Birju had told one of his friends the he was going to Wayanad, while he told another friend he was going to Tamil Nadu. The police then conducted enquiries along the Wayanad-Tamil Nadu border, where lot of Keralites lived.

The cops received information that a person, similar to the one in the photo, has been living at Neelgiri for two years and that his name was Georgekutty.

The Crime Branch on reaching his area found the house to be locked, but found a bike with Kerala registration. The cops noted down the bike number and traced the RC owner - Mukkam native Birju.

The cops were back at his place the next day, but Birju managed to give them the slip. However, he was caught later while on his way back. His arrest was recorded after he was taken back to Mukkam.

Mother killed to seize assets

The Crime Branch said that Birju killed his mother to take over the property.

Birju's family were landlords at the Karassery panchayat. Birju's father Vasu had inherited around 50 acres of land. However, he lost most of this.

When Vasu allegedly committed suicide in 1984, only seven acres of land was left. After his death, the land was owned by Birju and his mother Jayavally. Birju's mother then sold the land for Rs 14 lakh and gave Rs 7 lakh to her son. Using her share, she bought a property at Manassery and started lending money on interest.

Though Birju started various businesses with his Rs 7 lakh, they went bust. Once his share got over, Birju started demanding more money from mother. When it became clear that Jayavally would throw him out of the house, Birju decided to kill her. For this, he sought the help of Ismail. Birju sent his wife and two children to a relative’s house at Gudalur before the act.

Though Birju and Ismail stayed at the house the entire day, they couldn't commit the crime. Finally, when Jayavally was asleep in the night, the duo strangled her to death.

The cops are also probing if Birju had any role in his father's death.