THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three SPs of Kerala Police, who found the truth through scientific investigation in the cases where the pieces of evidence were destroyed, have been named the recipients of the Union Home Minister's award for excellence in investigation. The award winners are District Police Chiefs R Anand (Wayanad), K Karthik (Kottayam) and R Karuppaswami (Kozhikode Rural). All three are natives of Tamil Nadu.

Anand won the award for his skillfully capturing the man who fled after sexually assaulting a nine-year-old deaf and mute girl in his colony in Ambalavayal in Wayanad. The child was sexually assaulted when her parents went to collect firewood. A scientific investigation was conducted into the case as the girl could not speak. The incident took place in April 2020. The charge sheet was submitted within 90 days. The accused got double life imprisonment. Anand hails from Dindigul.

Thoothukudi native R Karuppaswami has been named the recipient of the award for finding the truth in the Drishyam model murder case in Vellathuval, Idukki where a woman was killed and buried in the kitchen. The accused Binoy murdered a woman named Sindhu and buried her in the kitchen. He then made Sindhu's son lodge a complaint with the police that his mother was missing. Later, the police found the dead boy in the kitchen of the house. DySP Emmanuel Paul and Inspector Kumar, members of the investigation team, have also won the award.

Chennai native K Karthik won the award for the investigation in the Manasa murder case. The police team had gone to Bihar to find Sonukumar who gave the gun to the murderer. The police team managed to arrest Sonukumar and the middleman taxi driver after carrying out investigations in Patna, Munger and some Maoist areas.