SIT constituted to probe Kerala shooting incident

Inquest of bodies under way; four-member police team sent to Kannur to do background check

District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik has formed a special investigation team (SIT) led by Muvattupuzha Deputy Superintendent of Police to probe the incident in which and then killed himself in broad daylight at Nellikuzhi near Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district of Kerala on Friday evening. The deceased, a 24-year-old from Kannur, doing house surgency at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Nellikuzhi, was allegedly shot down by the accused, identified as Rakhil, 32, of Melur in Kannur, at a house in the neighbourhood of the campus where the victim was staying as paying guest along with her friends. Both the victim and the accused were known to each other after meeting over Instagram a year ago. “We have sent a four-member team to Kannur to do a background check about both,” said Mr. Karthik. Though a lot of speculations were making rounds about the make of the weapon and how it was procured, the police said it was yet to be examined by ballistic experts.