Days after a family of three from Palakkad went missing, the Shornur police have traced their vehicle to Vazhikkadavu in Malappuram, where they believe it was abandoned to mislead the investigation. The police suspect they left their hometown due to mounting financial liabilities.

The missing family members were identified as Babu Bhaskaran (68), his wife Ramadevi (66) and their younger son Vishnu Babu (34), residents of Panayoor in Vaniyamkulam, Palakkad.

The family left their house at around 4 am on July 9 in one of their pick-up trucks. Before leaving, they told neighbours they were attending a relative's wedding and visiting other family members and would return only after about 10 days. As they had informed their neighbours in advance, no one initially suspected anything unusual.

However, when relatives checked with other family members, they discovered that no such wedding had been planned, raising concerns over the family's whereabouts. The matter was subsequently reported to the Shornur police, who registered a missing persons case under Section 57 of the Kerala Police Act and launched an investigation.

Initially, police traced the mobile tower locations of the family's phones and found that all three devices were last located near Panayoor. Later, the investigators traced the pick-up truck to Vazhikkadavu in Malappuram.

"We found the vehicle in the Vazhikkadavu area. It appears the family parked it there before leaving for someplace else," a police officer said.

"After parking the vehicle, a man suspected to be Vishnu can be seen walking away and leaving in an autorickshaw. However, the CCTV footage is not clear enough to confirm his identity," the officer added.

Police examined CCTV footage from multiple locations before eventually tracing the vehicle to Vazhikkadavu.

According to investigators, the family had been facing financial difficulties and had accumulated debts, which may have prompted them to leave their residence.

"We suspect the vehicle was abandoned there to mislead the police. We are also examining the possibility that Vishnu travelled to Chennai, where he runs a jaggery business," the officer said.

Police also suspect Vishnu may have left his parents somewhere along the Gudalur-Mysuru route before travelling to Chennai.

"We are probing the possibility that the parents were left somewhere in Karnataka," the officer said.

According to local residents, Babu and Vishnu jointly ran a jaggery and salt business and regularly travelled to Mysuru to procure jaggery. The couple also have an elder son, who works in the UAE, while Babu and Vishnu managed the family business together.