GST additional commissioner, sister and mother found dead in Kakkanad Customs quarters; mass family suicide suspected

KOCHI: Two were found hanging inside the Customs Quarters in Kakkanad. The bodies of GST Additional Commissioner Manish Vijay and his sister Shalini were found. The bodies were found in the kitchen of the quarters. It is not clear what happened to their mother, Shakuntala Agarwal, who lived with them. A search is ongoing.

Manish Vijay, a native of Jharkhand, was on leave for a week. Colleagues tried to contact him by phone after he failed to return to work. Some of the officials then reached Manish's quarters in search of him. When the officials got close to the house, a strong stench emanated from inside raising doubts. The dead bodies were found in the subsequent inspection.

The bodies of Manish and Shalini were found first. Later they reported the information to Thrikakkara police. The dead bodies are reported to be two days old and no exact reason has been found for the death. Thrikakkara police started an investigation into the case.

EDITED: As per the latest report, the body of mother Shakunthala has also been recovered from the adjacent room in the quarters.