The Nenmara police station in Palakkad district witnessed a stand off between cops and Pothundi residents on the night of Tuesday, January 28, following the arrest of Chenthamara (58), who allegedly murdered a man and his elderly mother 36 hours before he was apprehended. Nenmara residents are still reeling under shock and fear after Sudhakaran (54) and his mother Lakshmi (75), both natives of Pothundi, were brutally hacked to death by their neighbour Chenthamara on Monday, January 27.
The murders were committed when Chenthamara was out on bail after being arrested for allegedly killing Sudhakaran’s first wife Sajitha in 2019. He was released on bail in 2022 after spending three years in jail. The trial is yet to begin in the Sajitha murder case.
When Chenthamara received bail in 2022, the conditions included that he could not enter Nenmara police station limits. A concession was made to this in 2023, and the ban on his entry was restricted to Nenmara Panchayat limits. The accused had returned to his old house in the victims’ neighbourhood two months ago, in violation of his bail conditions.
When he moved back to his house near Sudhakaran’s, the police allegedly refused to take action. Pothundi residents and the victims’ family levelled grave allegations against the police, who they say refused to act on complaints that Chenthamara was threatening to kill more people.
After Monday’s murders, Nenmara residents spent the 36 hours that he remained missing in mortal fear. At Nenmara bus stop, TNM saw a man warning a woman who was boarding a bus to Pothundi: “Be careful, we don't know where he is and when he will come back to do something.”
Chenthamara was arrested at the end of an extensive search operation conducted by cops and residents in the adjacent forest and surrounding areas. Later when the residents arrived at the police station demanding to see the accused, the police denied permission and used force to disperse the crowd. It is alleged that the police used pepper spray on the residents.
“He deserves the death row”
The deceased Sudhakaran was a lorry driver in Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, and used to visit his home in Nenmara every weekend. A year after Sajitha’s death, he married Gracy, who works in Idukki district.
With his death, Sudhakaran’s daughters Athulya (22) and Akhila (19) have been orphaned. “Everyone will leave after a few days. After that, we will be alone,” Akhila said. She is an undergraduate student, while Athulya, who got married last year, is a nurse at the Palakkad district co-operative hospital.
After Sajitha’s death, Akhila had moved in with her maternal grandparents in Kunissery, nearly 15 km from Sudhakaran’s house. She used to go home to Nenmara whenever Sudhakaran was visiting. However, in the last few weeks, she avoided going home due to the presence of Chenthamara in the neighbourhood.
“When my father arrived home on Saturday evening (January 25), he asked me to come home, but I didn’t go as I was afraid of Chenthamara. Instead, I waited for my father at the Nenmara bus stand on Monday. We were planning to go to the bank together,” she told TNM.
Sudhakaran and Lakshmi were hacked to death while the former was starting on his way to meet Akhila at the bus stand. “If I had gone home, he would have killed me as well,” Akhila said.
“My grandparents only have me to rely on now. I need to look after them. I don’t even know how I will continue my studies,” she said. Sajitha’s mother is a daily wage worker. Akhila expressed fear that Chenthamara would kill them once he got out of jail. “He should be given capital punishment, otherwise he will kill more people,” she said.
After the attack, Sudhakaran and his mother were found on the road by Sivaraj (75), a farmer, who informed the police. “I met Chenthamara early in the morning on Monday, when I was on my way to my paddy field. We had a normal conversation, after which I returned home. Later, around 9.45 am, I was on my way to the field again when I saw Sudhakaran lying in a pool of blood. Near him, I saw Lakshmi also lying on the road. I went back home and called the police” he told TNM.
When Sivaraj saw Lakshmi, she was still alive even though brutally hacked. Pothundi residents immediately rushed her to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Soon after, youth in Pothundi went to Chenthamara’s house. Vijesh M, who was part of the group, told TNM, “We found his slippers near the front door of his house. So we thought he might be inside. But he escaped before we got in.” Local residents immediately searched for him in the surrounding areas, but were not able to find him.
A murderer on the prowl
Chenthamara had a love marriage, after which he moved to a house near Sudhakaran’s. Until then, he used to stay at his family house nearly 300 m away. Vismaya, one of his relatives, told TNM, “He didn’t like it when we spoke to his wife and daughter. Gradually we lost contact with him.” The residents also alleged that he is superstitious and used to conduct occult rituals at his house.
In 2019, Chenthamara killed Sajitha a few months after his wife and daughter left him. Accusing his now estranged wife of having extramarital affairs, he allegedly subjected her to physical abuse regularly. When his wife and daughter left the house, he believed that some of his neighbours were responsible for this. It was that anger that allegedly led to the murder of Sajitha, who had reportedly supported Chenthamara’s wife when she was being assaulted by him. On August 31, 2019, he killed Sajitha and went to other neighbours' houses with the same intention. Fortunately for them, they were not home at that time.
Vismaya’s mother Bindu is one of the women Chenthamara has threatened to kill. “He suspected that his wife was having an affair. He used to beat her constantly. Some days, she would run away and come stay with me,” Bindu said.
According to local residents, the police dog that was brought to the site after Sajitha’s murder traced its way to Bindu’s house. “It was due to sheer luck that my mother escaped from him. After murdering Sajitha, he came to our house, that’s what the police dog’s movement indicated,” Vismaya said.
Even in 2019, Chenthamara had escaped to the nearby forested area after the murder, as he did this week. He was arrested two days later when he visited his brother’s house looking for food. This time too, he is said to have returned to the village due to hunger.
The search and investigation team led by Alathur DYSP Muraleedharan and four Circle Inspectors has a total strength of 125, including the Kerala police’s Thunderbolt commandos. The police and residents searched for Chenthamara in the forest in Arakkumala for nearly two days. Later, on the night of January 28, he was arrested near his house. The police will collect further evidence soon.
Police negligence questioned
The victims’ family and neighbours alleged that there were serious lapses on the part of the police. It was in the second week of December that the residents in Chenthamara’s neighbourhood registered a complaint with the Nenmara police, asking that they intervene to relocate him from his house. The residents took this step after they received continuous threats from the accused. He allegedly used to threaten to kill more people, including three neighbours, Bindhu, Pushpa, and Maimuna. “He accused these women in his neighbourhood of having made him lonely, and used to say that they too should feel the same,” Vismaya said.
The letter to the police was signed by 64 women residents of Pothundi. “The police did not take any serious action,” Ramsiya, who composed the letter, told TNM.
Later, on December 29, Akhila filed a complaint with the police, after which they summoned Chenthamara to the station and warned him. Speaking to TNM, the residents expressed their disgruntlement with the police who did nothing apart from giving Chenthamara a verbal warning, even after they realised that he had violated bail conditions.
“If the police had done anything on time, we would not have been orphaned,” Akhila said. “We didn’t ask for him to be put in jail, we only wanted him to leave our neighbourhood,” Ramsiya added.
Acting on these allegations, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) (ADGP) Manoj Abraham sought a report from District Police Chief V Ajit Kumar about the alleged negligence of the police. Following this, Mahendra Simhan M, the inspector of Nenmara police station, was suspended from service on January 27.
The final rites of both Sudhakaran and Lakshmi were conducted at the public crematoriums in Makkavu and Elavancherry in Palakkad on January 28.