Decomposed bodies of 3 of Jharkhand family found in Kerala Customs flat
The bureaucrat, his mother and younger sister were found dead at his official home in Kochi, with the deaths suspected to have occurred at least 4-5 days ago.
An assistant commissioner with the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), his younger sister and his mother were found dead at his official quarters in Kochi, police said on Friday.
The 42-year-old officer, originally from Ranchi in Jharkhand, was employed with the GST wing of the government department in Kochi. His sister was an officer with the Jharkhand Administrative Service (JAS) and the first-rank holder in the PSC exams. She was 35 and their mother 80 years old.
While the local Thrikkakara police has filed a case of unnatural death, police suspect it to be a case of suicide. The remains have been sent for post-mortem at the Ernakulam Government Medical College Hospital and the reports are expected by Saturday, police said.
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An officer with the Thrikkakara police, who asked to remain anonymous, hinted at the mystery surrounding the deaths.
“While the customs officer and his sister were found dead in two rooms of the house, their mother was found dead on a bed. The mother’s remains were covered with a sandal-coloured sheet and flowers were strewn on them. There was a framed photograph of the three of them near her head,” the police officer, who was present at the spot, said.
The deaths are suspected to have occurred at least four-five days ago and the bodies was already decaying, he added.
The officer said they recovered a note, addressed to the Kerala police, asking them to hand over all documents in the house to the officer’s sister residing in the UAE.
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Police said the customs officer was an introvert and barely interacted with his neighbours. “That’s why probably no one checked on him even when he did not appear outside for a few days. He had gone on leave for a few days and his colleagues came looking when he did not report back for duty after leave. After noticing foul smell emanating from the house, they informed the police,” the officer said.
While the deceased officer mostly stayed alone, his mother and sister reportedly joined him in Kochi about four months ago, police said.
Police said that the JAS officer was among those booked by the CBI in connection with irregularities in the conduct of the PSC exams she had written and that the trial in the case was pending in the high court. “We have come to know that she was a first rank holder in that exam. Her implication in the CBI case could be connected to the suicides. We have recovered some diary entries, written in Hindi, from the house. We are going through it,” the officer said.
Since the mother was found dead on the bed and covered with a sheet, it was unclear how she died. “The autopsy report will give more details,” he said.
In Ranchi, a colleague of the deceased JAS officer expressed shock. “The news came in our batch’s Whatsapp group on Thursday night, but no one has any idea of what could have led to the incident. She was one of the officers who kept to herself both about the professional and personal life. It’s known to all that she belonged to Bokaro, but not much is known about her family. We heard she has been away from duty for a very long time, but no one knows the reason.”
The exam conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) for the first and the second batch of JAS have been mired in controversy since the beginning and the CBI has filed charge sheet in the case. Around two dozen officials from the first batch including the deceased officer were named as accused in the case by the prosecution.
According to officials in the department of personnel, the last time she was on duty she was posted with the women and child development department.
“She was posted with the WCD in 2017 in Garhwa. She perhaps stopped coming to duty after that after going on leave. We would have to go into her job records to know what steps were taken by the department after she didn’t return after going on leave,” an official in the department said.
