The Special Investigation Team probing the sensational case in Koodathayi has received further details on how Jolly Amma Joseph may have procured cyanide to execute the six alleged murders. According to the police, the second accused, MS Mathew, confessed to supplying cyanide to the 47-year-old woman, while he was being questioned.
Police say that Mathew, who is a jewellery store owner, got ahold of the cyanide from goldsmith Praji Kumar, also an accused in the case, by giving him Rs 5,000 and two bottles of liquor.
According to Mathew’s statement to the police, Jolly, who is related to Mathew, had gotten very close to him before she had asked him for cyanide. Due to the closeness of their relationship, Mathew refused to tell Praji Kumar that the cyanide was for Jolly and instead lied that he needed it for some personal use.
Police claim that Mathew insists he was unaware of Jolly’s intent. In Mathew’s statement to the police, he alleges that Jolly had asked him for cyanide in order to kill a rat which was proving to be a nuisance in her house.
Once he procured the cyanide, Mathew confessed to handing over the chemical directly to Jolly, according to the police. He was also approached for cyanide by Jolly a second time. He had asked Praji Kumar to directly deliver the cyanide, but that did not happen as the stock had gotten over, according to his statements to the police.
Although Mathew states that Praji Kumar and Jolly had not known each other, the investigating team is probing for any links between the two.
From their primary investigations, police say Jolly had not executed all the murders using cyanide. She had allegedly used some other poison to kill Annamma. The SIT is still investigating this further.
In a special interview to Asianet, Kozhikode Rural SP KG Simon added that Mathew could have spoken up about Jolly earlier and avoided the series of deaths that had taken place.
From the accused’s statements and other investigations, police believe that it was only after Annamma’s death that Jolly procured the cyanide which she used to execute the five other alleged murders.
According to the SIT, Jolly had also researched how to use cyanide very well before executing the deaths.
Shaju, father Zacharias brought in for questioning
Meanwhile, Shaju Zacharias, Jolly’s second husband, has also been questioned by the police regarding his involvement in the alleged murders. Shaju’s 2-year-old daughter Alphine and former wife Cily had also passed away, and are among the 6 family members that Jolly allegedly murdered.
Less than a year after Cily’s death, Shaju got married to Jolly in a private wedding in Kattapana.
The police have questioned Shaju several times regarding his involvement in the deaths. However, since no direct links have been found to connect Shaju with the alleged murders, the police have let him off.
Shaju and his father Zacharias, who is Tom Thomas’s brother, were summoned to the Kozhikode rural SP office in Vadakara for questioning. According to sources, Shaju, Zacharias, Jolly and Mathew are being questioned together by the investigating team which is led by Kozhikode rural SP KG Simon and DYSP R Haridas.
Meanwhile, the police are also tracking the various statements made by Shaju to the media regarding his relationship with Jolly, who he had been married to for 1.5 years.
“We are not saying Shaju is guilty now. But we have been monitoring what he has been telling the media after we let him off. Many of his statements to the TV channels, he has not told us. It is good for him to remember that we are watching his statements to the media and we are probing them,” Simon reportedly told Asianet news.