Bengaluru police investigating a triple murder in the city found that one of the accused allegedly used a popular artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot over several months to plan the crime, including seeking information on methods of killing, disposing of bodies and removing bloodstains. The police have sought the accused's chat records from the chatbot's parent company as part of the digital evidence in the case, according to The Indian Express.
The accused, 25-year-old engineer Kenneth, and his live-in partner, Shwetha Somasundar (25), were arrested by the KR Puram police for the alleged murders of Shwetha's mother, Muthulakshmi S. (48), father, Somasundar (54), and younger sister, Supriya (20). The three were allegedly killed at the couple's apartment in K R Puram on June 22.
According to The Indian Express, Kenneth allegedly consulted the AI chatbot over nearly six months while planning the murders. Police said they have written to the chatbot's parent company seeking complete logs of his conversations to corroborate other digital evidence collected during the investigation.
During interrogation, Kenneth allegedly told police that the idea of disposing of the bodies using an iron furnace came after consulting the AI tool. Police said Kenneth had built the furnace as part of plans to start a cloud kitchen but later considered using it for disposal of the bodies.
"He was planning to start a cloud kitchen and had built an iron furnace for this purpose. When the idea of murder came up, he consulted the AI tool, which indicated the merits and demerits of incinerating bodies before disposal. He planned to repurpose the furnace," a police source said.
Police said the alleged motive behind the murders appears to be linked to financial disputes and strained family relations. Police sources said both accused come from middle-class families. Kenneth's father is a retired employee of a defence public sector undertaking involved in aircraft manufacturing, while Shwetha's late father worked for a multinational IT company.
Investigators said psychological assessments conducted during the probe pointed to severe social isolation. According to police, Shwetha had earlier worked in a high-paying role at a multinational social media company but lost her job after becoming increasingly dependent on Kenneth.
Police described their relationship as transactional, alleging that Shwetha financially supported Kenneth while he remained socially isolated from friends and family.
Background of the case
On June 22, police alleged, Muthulakshmi was lured to the K R Puram apartment, where Kenneth stabbed her 26 times. When Shwetha's father and younger sister arrived separately a short while later, they too were allegedly attacked and killed.
After the murders, the couple allegedly travelled to Shwetha's parental home in southeast Bengaluru and stole cash and silver ornaments before fleeing to Puducherry. Police said they had also travelled to Puducherry on vacation about two weeks before the killings.
The investigation gathered momentum after Somasundar, despite sustaining fatal injuries, managed to crawl out of the apartment. Neighbours found him on the staircase around 9 pm. Before succumbing to his injuries, he reportedly gave a dying declaration identifying his daughter Shwetha and Kenneth as the attackers and urged police to rescue his wife and younger daughter, who remained inside the flat.
Shwetha was arrested in Puducherry on June 24, while Kenneth was arrested within the following two days.
Shwetha was remanded to judicial custody on July 10 after the completion of her police custody. Police said she has expressed willingness to make a confessional statement in exchange for a pardon. Kenneth, who underwent polygraph and other scientific examinations during nine days of police custody, was remanded to judicial custody by a Bengaluru magistrate court on Saturday, July 18.