Serial killer in Kerala? Arrest in woman's disappearance leads police to reopen 3 cold cases

Thiruvananthapuram: While the suspected serial killing at Dharmasthala is hitting the headlines, Kerala is witnessing the mystery of a suspected serial killing being unraveled.

A 65 year-old-man held from Alappuzha district in connection with the recent disappearance of a woman has now been linked with the disappearance of three more women over the last several years.

With remains of burnt body parts being recovered from the suspects house, the police are gearing up to reopen the investigations into the earlier three cases.

An extensive search is likely to be carried out at the vast premises of his house at Pallipuram in Alappuzha.

Sebastian, who is a real estate dealer, was held in connection with the disappearance of Jainamma, hailing from Ettumanoor in Kottayam district, in December 2024.

The investigation zeroed in on Sebastian by tracing the tower location of Jainamma's mobile phone.

Last week the police carried out a search at the premises of his house and recovered remains of charred body. DNA tests of the samples are being carried out to find the identity.

In the meantime, the police found that Sebastian was under the scanner for the disappearance of two women hailing from Alappuzha.

They found that he had some links to Bindhu Padmanabhan in 2006 and Ayisha in 2012.

Sebastian was found to be involved in the sale of a land that belonged to Padmanabhan, who was unmarried and staying away from her relatives. Several years after her disappearance, her brother became suspicious and approached the police.

The probe found that fake documents were also used for the land transaction. Though Sebastian was interrogated, he maintained that he remained unaware of her whereabouts.

Sebastian also faced a probe in connection with the disappearance of Ayisha. But the investigation was remaining inconclusive.

With the recovery of charred remains of body parts from the premises of Sebastain's house the police are not only reopening the other two missing cases but was also cross-checking similar cases of disappearance of women.

In 2020, Sebastian's involvement in the disappearance of Sindhu from Alappuzha was suspected. She was living estranged from her family.

The police suspects that his modus operandi is that he befriends women staying alone and then murders them, taking away their gold and money.

The police also collected information from some jewellery shops and private financial institutions with which Sebastian had connections.

A detailed search is likely to be carried out in the vast premises of his house which even has small ponds where flesh eating cat fishes are also suspected to be present.