Alappuzha: A middle-aged man was found charred to death inside his car at Thayankary in Edathua village in the wee hours of Saturday.
Jameskutty George (49) a resident of ‘Mamoothil’, Edathua died in the mishap.
Residents of the area first noticed the burning car near the Thayankary boat jetty around 3.45 am.
They soon alerted the police control room and informed them about the incident. Fire force personnel and police rushed to the spot and doused the flames by 4.15 am.
By then, the vehicle was completely gutted. “We saw the car in flames early morning and heard blasts. We didn’t receive any hints of occupants inside the vehicle then, as the fire raged on. We couldn’t go near the car. Finally, we realised there was one person inside after two hours,” said a resident of the area.
Cops probe suicide angle
Meanwhile, the preliminary investigation points to suicide, the police said.
“He had sent a message to one of his friends around midnight that he was going to take the extreme step. We’re probing the suicide angle. His relatives told us he had left the house in the car around 11 pm. We’re examining the CCTV footage from the locality. The attempt is to know what happened during the intervening night,” Station House Officer Ananda Babu K B told Onmanorama. "It’s too early to say anything conclusive," he said
Ananda Babu said the probe team has not recovered any inflammable material from the car. “It was completely gutted. We’re waiting for the final forensic report,” he added.
Relatives identify charred body
A team of forensic experts visited the spot and collected the evidence, before confirming the charred body to be that of Jameskutty. Earlier, his relatives identified the body. This after a steel rod, implanted in his hand following a fracture in an accident, and certain equipment used to treat heart ailments, were recovered from the car.
He is survived by Joyiz Mamoodu Thoobackkal and children Alvin and Anette (both students).
