Nithish retracts statement now and then; search for remains of newborn baby,  rented house was taken after lying

IDUKKI: The investigation is progressing in the Kattappana double murder case. The two dead are Vijayan and his grandson. The police exhumed the skeletal remains of Vijayan from a rented house at Kakkattukada in Kattappana on Sunday.

The two were killed by Vishnu and Nithish. The remains of Vijayan's grandson are yet to be found. The accused killed the baby when he was only five-days old. The incident happened in 2016. Nithish, the accused in the case, is frequently retracting his statement and this is affecting the investigation badly.

The accused first told police that that he hid the baby's body in a cow shed near his house at Kattapana Sagara Junction. The investigation team conducted a detailed search there yesterday, but could not find the skeletal remains.

Nithish later changed his statement and said that he shifted the body from there later. However, the co-accused and Vijayan's son Vishnu denied this. The investigation team have decided to interrogate the accused again.

It has also been found that the accused had lied to the owner of the rented house where Vishnu and his family lived. Soly, the owner of the house, said that Vishnu had taken the house for rent by lying and misrepresenting her. They took the house for rent on June 23 in 2023. Vishnu and Vijayan came to take the house for rent. I haven’t seen his mother and sister. Vishnu said his name was Ajith and is studying for PSC. The house was rented in Vijayan's name and said that he will be staying with his son. Vishnu said that his mother and sister are in Pune.

As they did not want the owner to visit them, used to send the money home. She said that once Nithish and Vijayan came together and introduced the former as his cousin. She said that she was not aware of Nithish staying with them. She said nobody would be there whenever she visited them. She said they did not reveal the real names of Nithish and Vishnu. They first told her that Nithish’s name was Sreehari and later changed it to Pranav.