PATHANAMTHITTA: Sukanth Suresh, the accused in the death of IB officer Megha, is absconding with his parents. Sukanth’s house in Edappal Sugapuram has been locked for four days and his family members’ phones are switched off.

Sukanth’s family is financially well-off. His father runs a shop selling tools used for cutting stones. His mother is a retired teacher. Sukanth is a single child, and his family owns large plots of land in different parts of the district.

According to locals, the family lived a secluded life with little to no engagement with neighbors. The family’s relationship with the close relatives living nearby wasn’t good either. Sukanth had no friends from his hometown and was almost always spotted alone. It was only after the case came to light that many neighbors got to know about his IB officer job. It is rumored that Sukanth and his family were staunch believers and relied heavily on astrology.

A special team led by Pettah Police SHO Premkumar will reach Kochi to investigate the incident. Effort has also begun to track Sukanth’s phone location.

Megha's father, Madhusudhanan, was willing to arrange her marriage with Sukanth. He talked more about the incident,

‘Since both were in the same job, I entertained the proposal. I even asked her to bring Sukanth to our house to discuss marriage. Sukanth had denied Megha’s invitation once. It was only after her death that I learned about how Sukanth financially exploited my daughter. In the beginning, Megha had a Rs 50,000 per month salary. She told me it would increase to Rs 1,50,000 in just one year.

At first, Sukanth used to take Rs 1000 and 2000 from her. Since last October, he started coercing Megha to transfer her full salary. Sukanth has thus received Rs 3.5 lakh from her.”

Sukanth and his family are unlikely to leave Kerala. Police have intensified the investigation.