Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: The police have confirmed that a Perumanoor youth who reportedly went missing in November 2021 was murdered by a gang in Goa over financial dealings linked to a drug deal. The deceased is Jeff John Louis, 27.
The Ernakulam South police arrested three persons in connection with the murder on Saturday. The arrested are Anil Chacko, 28, and Stephin Thomas, 24, both natives of Velloor in Kottayam and Vishnu T V, 25, of Vythiri in Wayanad.
According to the police, Jeff, who could not complete his MBA education, was addicted to drugs. He used to visit Goa frequently and returned only after several weeks. However, when he left for Goa in November 2021, he did not return even after several weeks, which made his mother Gladis lodge a missing complaint with Ernakulam South police.
hough the police conducted an inquiry with the assistance of the cyber cell, his location could not be traced, and the probe hit a dead-end.
However, the case took a U-turn when the police arrested a history sheeter, who was close to one of the accused and Jeff, a few weeks ago in another case.
He told the police that a Kochi youth was murdered in Goa by his cousin and his friend. Subsequently, the police checked the pending missing cases in Kochi to identify the murdered person as Jeff.
Following information from the Kochi City police, cops in Goa have recovered a skeleton suspected to be that of Jeff. The skeleton is in the custody of Anjuna police. Based on the information passed by the Kochi City police, the Anjuna police conducted a probe and found that the body was dumped at a place under their station limits in Goa.
A team from Kochi City police has reached Goa as part of the probe. Soon, the police team from Kochi will move to Goa with the three arrested for identification and evidence collection. On the other hand, the police are checking whether a separate murder case has to be registered in Goa as the homicide took place there.
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