Pathanamthitta: More shocking facts about the accused in the Elanthoor human sacrifice case have emerged as the probe picks up pace.

The trio — Muhammed Shafi and couple Bhagaval Singh and Laila — attempted to murder two other women as part of their sorcery rituals, but they proved lucky unlike two others — Rosli and Padmam — who were slaughtered.

This was revealed during the interrogation soon after their arrest a few days ago.

The two lucky escapees were natives of Pathanamthitta district: one a lottery vendor like Padmam, the Tamil woman killed brutally by the accused; and a housemaid from Pandalam.

Key accused and conspirator Muhammed Shafi bought entire lotteries from the lottery vendor a year ago in his bid to first establish friendship and then lure her into his trap. He even succeeded in bringing her to the couple’s house at Elanthoor by offering her a job, with a monthly salary of Rs 18,000, at the massage centre there.

They provided the undoubting woman Rs 1,000 on the first day. On the second day when she finished her massage duty in the afternoon, the couple invited her to their nearby house. When she entered the house, the duo forced her to a bed and began to tie up her hands.

However, the woman managed to free her hands using all her might and attempted to escape. The couple tried to bound her legs. Shafi gave a tight slap on her face as she fell down. But she managed to run out of the house after pushing them aside.

Laila followed and tried to persuade her to return, but the frightened woman was unrelenting. She stayed on the road itself and finally managed to escape after calling an autorickshaw driver whom she knew.

The police have recorded the statement of the woman who is now abroad.

The second woman was the one who was brought to the house through a private agency based in Pandalam for doing house chores. Then, a pit was being dug near the house in the guise of dumping waste.

When the accused approached her with sexual intent the next day, the woman sensed something wrong and made good her escape.

It was after these two unsuccessful bids that he approached and trapped the victims Rosli and Padmam before murdering them in a gruesome manner.