Thrissur: The police probing the murder of a woman and her daughter at Padiyur have issued a lookout notice for Premkumar, the second husband of Rekha, one of the victims. Rekha, 40 and her mother Mani, 74, residents of Vellani in Karalam, were found dead in their house on Wednesday. 

Premkumar, a native of Kottayam, is also an accused in the 2019 murder of his first wife Vidhya in Udayamperoor. He had slit her throat and killed her. Police described him as extremely dangerous and said Premkumar had tried to divert the investigators by leaving his mobile phone on a train headed to North India. He was arrested for murder and recently he was released on bail. CCTV visuals of Premkumar have surfaced and police are trying to track him.

The latest murder came to light after a foul smell emanated from Rekha's house on Wednesday. Neighbours informed Mani's other daughter, who entered the home through a back door and found the bodies of Mani and Rekha—one in the hall and the other in an adjacent room. The bodies were in a decomposed state, suggesting they had been dead for several days.

Items were found in disarray inside the house. Locals confirmed that Premkumar had been staying there a few days before the incident, but he has been untraceable since. Rekha’s sister revealed that she had recently filed a complaint against Premkumar at the Irinjalakuda Women’s Police Station.

A police team led by Kattur Inspector E. R. Baiju visited the scene and collected evidence. The preliminary conclusion by the police is that a family dispute led Premkumar to commit the murders. Authorities suspect the victims were strangled to death. An autopsy will be held on Thursday.