![Kerala court sends three accused in 15-year-old 'murder' case to police custody](http://media.assettype.com/thenewsminute%2F2024-07%2F88d0863a-e7e3-4d0a-9614-18369a15b25f%2FCourt_IANS_04072024.jpg?rect=0%2C0%2C400%2C225&w=480&auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=max)
A day after the Kerala Police arrested three people suspected of being part of a gang which allegedly killed a 20-year-old housewife 15 years back in Alappuzha, a district court on Wednesday sent the trio to police custody.
The three, who had been arraigned as the accused in the FIR registered on Tuesday, are Jinu, Pramod, and Soman, all hailing from Mannar in Alappuzha.
Kala, 20, disappeared from Mannar 15 years back and a missing person case was registered. However, despite efforts by the police, nothing came out and her husband Anil later remarried.
Anil has been named as the first accused and is presently employed in Israel and the police have been trying to reach him.
This case resurfaced last month when the local police received an anonymous letter revealing crucial information about Kala and alleging that she was murdered. Soon the police got into action and picked up five people, of which three were arrested and produced before the court, which sent them to police custody.
Based on the questioning, on Tuesday, a police team arrived at Anil’s house and opened a septic tank for checking. After emptying it and with forensic experts presently engaged in scientific examination of what they recovered, the police expect they will be able to crack the case.
But with the arrested giving contrasting versions, the police are leaving nothing to chance, as first, the accused said Kala’s body was thrown into a river and on further questioning, they said it was put into the septic tank.
A forensic expert said through a DNA test, things can be resolved but the challenge is with 15 years now passing, it is doubtful whether there is still the presence of bone marrow.
"Moreover, if a body is dumped into a septic tank, the decaying takes a different line as compared to being buried in a pit. Inside a septic tank, a lot of reactions take place due to the human excreta. Only a detailed and thorough forensic analysis will bring out the real test report on what has been recovered from the septic tank," the expert said.
Meanwhile, Kala’s 16-year-old son said he would not believe that his mother was dead and gone, while Anil’s father claimed that Kala had long back left Anil to live with another person.