The Elathur police on Friday recovered the skeletal remains of West Hill native Vijil Vijayan, who reportedly died of drug overdose in mysterious circumstances six years ago and was allegedly buried secretly by three of his friends to hush up the incident. Police sources said the recovery was made after a five-day long intensive search at the crime spot.
A few days ago, the police were able to recover a shoe reportedly worn by the 35-year-old from the spot after a human remains detection (HRD) dog was deployed. The two previously arrested persons — K.K. Nikhil, 35, of Eranhipalam, and S. Deepesh, 27, of Vengeri — who were recently released in police custody, had also been brought to the spot for identification.
Police sources said the alleged incident took place on March 24, 2019. It was earlier registered as a case of man missing. The mystery behind the disappearance was cracked following a reinvestigation into the incident by Assistant Commissioner of Police P. Bijuraj and Elathur Station House Officer K.R. Ranjith.
A senior police officer associated with the investigation said that a breakthrough happened in the case when the probe team managed to piece together the final days of the victim and the activities of his friends who were with him on the said day. “At the end of a detailed interrogation, the friends disclosed details of the incident,” he added.
According to the Elathur police, Vijil was allegedly injected with a fatal shot of brown sugar, which instantly led to his collapse and death. Instead of ensuring medical support, the friends who reportedly panicked after seeing the collapsed man fled the spot, they said. However, they returned to the spot the next day and buried the body in a nearby marshy land and weighed it down with heavy stones, the police added.
A few months after the “secret” burial, there were alleged attempts on the part of the suspects to collect the skeletal remains of the victim and immerse them in the sea to destroy evidence.
Investigators said that the possibility of a planned murder could not be ruled out, though the accused had been temporarily charged under Sections 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code. They said efforts were on to nab one more suspect who is at large.
A motorcycle reportedly used by Vijil had already been recovered. According to the police, the suspects had removed the two-wheeler from the scene to divert attention to the missing case. Similarly, they had reportedly thrown away Vijil’s mobile phone after deleting data and call records. The case was reinvestigated on a petition submitted by Vijil’s father to the State Police Chief.
