Thuvvur (Malappuram): Vishnu, who has been taken into custody in connection with a woman’s murder in Thuvvur, an incident which shook the area in Malappuram district, has revealed that the crime was committed for financial gain. Sujitha, who was a Kudumbashree worker and temporary employee at the Krishi Bhavan, and Vishnu, a temporary staffer of the panchayat, were closely acquainted. It is learnt that the murder was committed also in order to get hold of Sujitha’s jewellery. Vishnu, who is the mandalam secretary of the Youth Congress, is said to have left his employment in the panchayat office before Sujitha went missing.
Ever since a search was launched to trace Sujitha after she went missing on August 11, Vishnu had been continuously posting details of the developments on Facebook. Meanwhile, the needle of suspicion pointed towards Vishnu and he landed up in custody.
The last phone call to Sujitha before she went missing had come from Vishnu. Sujitha’s phone was switched off after this phone call. In addition, there were no calls from Vishnu’s phone for quite some time after this. It is at the end of an investigation focused on details such as these that Vishnu was taken into custody and arrested.
Members of Vishnu’s family are also in custody in the murder case. Vishnu’s father, Muthu alias Kunjunni, brothers Vysakh, Vivek (Jithu) and their friend, Shihan, are the ones in police custody. It is believed that Sujitha was murdered on August 11, the day when she went missing.
The Facebook page of the Karuvarakundu police had posted a “person missing” notice on August 17 in connection with Sujitha’s disappearance. The local people say that Vishnu, who was a social worker, had shared this notice on the social media and had actively cooperated in the search for tracing Sujitha. Vishnu had made a post on August 14 about Sujitha, with a note asking everyone to share the message with the maximum number of persons.
When the local people formed an action committee as part of intensifying their involvement in the Sujitha case, Vishnu had taken an active part in it.
The local residents said that Vishnu’s mother had died some time ago and that the person now at home is his stepmother. Vishnu’s wife had gone to her parental home for delivery, the locals said.
