Kochi (PTI): Five persons, including three children, were found dead at a rented house at Vaduthala here on Saturday, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Sreekumari (58), her daughter Aswathi Nair (36), two grandsons aged 14 and 4, and a two-year-old granddaughter.

They were natives of Vilappilsala in Thiruvananthapuram and had been staying in a rented house on Karsaka Road in Vaduthala.

Police suspect that the children were poisoned before Sreekumari and Aswathi hanged themselves.

According to police, the family had been living in the house since February for the treatment of the elder son at a nearby private hospital and were about to vacate the premises.

The incident came to light when a cable TV operator, who had come for work, noticed the two women hanging inside the room through a window and alerted others, police said.

The house owner and police soon reached the spot and initiated an investigation.

Police said Aswathi’s husband had died about eight months ago after the couple had separated.

He was allegedly suffering from liver disease due to alcoholism.

Following his death, neighbours and people close to the family had allegedly blamed Aswathi and her mother, officials said.

A police officer said the family was financially sound, as they were paying a monthly rent of Rs 35,000 and owned property and a house in Thiruvananthapuram.

Police said that a suicide note was recovered from the house.

The bodies were later shifted to Kalamassery Medical College, where postmortem examinations will be conducted on Sunday.

Ernakulam North Police have registered a case and begun an investigation.

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Belagavi: An 81-year-old businessman from Belagavi was allegedly cheated of nearly Rs 15.45 crore in a digital arrest scam that continued for almost six weeks, The Hindu reported on Saturday.

The victim has been identified as Ajit Gopalkrishna Saraf. According to a complaint filed by his son, Saraf received a call on February 5 from a person claiming to be a CBI officer, who accused him of being involved in a financial scandal. 

The caller, who identified himself as K. Siva Subramanyam, allegedly produced fake documents purportedly issued by the CBI and the RBI vigilance cell, and claimed that Saraf had dealings with Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways and was involved in money laundering.

In the following days, another person, posing as George Mathew from the RBI vigilance wing, joined the calls. They allegedly asked Saraf to provide details of his fixed deposits and stock market investments, and allegedly forced him to liquidate his FDs and investments held with Motilal Oswal.

Fearing arrest, Saraf reportedly did not inform his family and transferred all the money under his control to accounts specified by the fraudsters. Police said the victim had not come out of his room for days.

The fraud came to light only when his son visited him during the Ugadi holidays.

A case has been registered at the Belagavi Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) Police Station, and officials said the investigation is likely to be transferred to the CID.