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Journalism of Courage
On February 10, 2006, Santhamma returned from the panchayat office in Anchal, Kollam, to find her daughter and her 17-day-old twins lying in a pool of blood, their throats slit. Police soon narrowed in on the suspects – two Armymen from Kerala, Divil Kumar and Rajesh, who were then posted at the Pathankot military base in Punjab. The accused were, however, never traced and the case went cold.
Nineteen years later, the CBI arrested them on January 4 from Puducherry, where they had taken on new identities – Divil Kumar, 42, as Vishnu and Rajesh, 48, as Praveen Kumar, both engaged in interior design works and married to teachers. What helped the investigators track down the two was a mix of technology and some old-fashioned doggedness.
Kerala ADGP (Law and Order) Manoj Abraham told The Indian Express, “Our technical intelligence wing, which does digital analysis of long-pending cases, used Artificial Intelligence to track down the accused. Old photos of the accused were developed to see what they would look like 19 years later. Several options were tried out – from changes in hairstyles to other facial features – using AI. These images were matched with photos on social media. We got matches from around the world, but the AI image of one of the accused had a 90% match with a wedding photograph shared on Facebook. We probed further and tracked Rajesh down to Puducherry, who led us to the other accused, Divil. Since the case was with the CBI, we alerted their Chennai unit, which arrested the two.’’ He added that it was unusual for AI to be used to solve such a long-pending case.
According to the police, Ranjini and Divil, neighbours at Alayamon in Kollam, were allegedly in a relationship. But when Ranjini got pregnant and insisted on going through with the pregnancy, their relationship broke down. Kumar, subsequently, went back to Pathankot.
Late in January 2006, Ranjini gave birth to twin daughters at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. It was here that Rajesh, a native of Sreekandapuram in Kannur, allegedly befriended her as ‘Anil Kumar’, a native of Kollam. According to the police, Rajesh and Divil were colleagues in the Army and the two had allegedly colluded to kill Ranjini. The police probe found that Divil and Rajesh were both on leave in January that year.
Ranjini, meanwhile, obtained an order from State Women’s Commission that Divil be brought back from the military camp and subjected to a DNA test to prove his parenthood of the children.
Congress leader Jyothi Kumar Chamakkala, who is from Ranjini’s village in Kollam and has been involved in a campaign since 2006 seeking the arrest of the accused, recalls, “Rajesh approached Ranjini while she was in hospital for her delivery. As he befriended her and she told him about Divil, he promised to help her settle the matter and track down Divil.’’
Police say that after Ranjini was discharged from hospital, Rajesh helped her find a rented house at Anchal, away from her family home, saying it would keep her, an unwed mother, away from prying neighbours and relatives.
On February 10, 2006, Rajesh went to Ranjini’s house and convinced her mother Santhamma to visit local panchayat office, where she had to submit a few applications related to birth of the babies. Police say Rajesh, allegedly acting at behest of Divil, stabbed Ranjini and slit the throat of the babies.
Talking to The Indian Express, Santhamma said, “Rajesh had befriended us at the hospital, introducing himself as Anil Kumar. He had approached us inquiring whether we required blood for Ranjini’s caesarean delivery. Even though we did not need blood, he deliberately hung around the hospital. When we moved to a rented house, he came there too. Everything he did was with a plan. Divil Kumar and his family raised questions about my daughter’s character. Which is why she wanted him to undergo a paternity test.’’
As police began probing the role of ‘Anil Kumar’ they came across the registration certificate of a two-wheeler at the crime scene. Their investigation into the ownership of the two-wheeler took them to the military camp at Pathankot, where Rajesh and Divil were posted. But had gone into hiding, leaving the police clueless.
In 2010, the Kerala HC, acting on a plea by Santhamma, handed the case over to CBI. In 2013, the CBI submitted a chargesheet but the two remained elusive.
