How cracking a murder case unmasked a serial killer

NG a wave of lockdown in January 2022, for the people of Thiruvananthapuram, as paralyzingly nerve-wracking as the onset of a rampaging new Covid variant was the brutal murder of a young woman near Ambalamukku.

- Varsha Somaraj

Vineetha, a plant nursery owner, was found dead with three deep slashes on her neck. The 24-year-old's body was tucked under a flex banner, seemingly to keep it hidden. By the time it was found, the killer was long gone.

With little evidence to go on, the Peroorkada police, led by then sub-inspector Sajikumar, relied on a grainy CCTV clip from the area. The footage showed a man, seen before in the area, walking along the Ambalamukku-Vankonam road. He wore a long-sleeved shirt, a cap, and a mask (because it was Covid), and his left hand hung limp, injured.

"This was our first lead," recalls Sajikumar. "Also, the missing sovereign gold chain Vineetha used to wear suggested that it was a robbery-cum-murder. On checking the footage, it was found that the killer entered the nursery around 11 am and left 20 minutes later," the officer adds.

After leaving the nursery, the suspect boarded an autorickshaw to Muttada. Police tracked down the driver. He remembered the man because of his limp hand. The driver also noted that he spoke broken Malayalam, suggesting he wasn't a native of Kerala.