18 Years Later, Ex-Army Men Face Justice for Killing Woman and Her Newborn Twins

Kerala (The Uttam Hindu): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two former Army officials, Divil Kumar and Rajesh, who had been on the run for 18 years after allegedly murdering a 24-year-old woman, Ranjini and her 17-day-old twin daughters in Kerala’s Kochi city in 2006. The arrests were made in Puducherry where the accused had been living under false identities. Both were produced before a Kochi court on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody.

According to the CBI investigation Kumar, who was in a relationship with Ranjini became enraged after she sought legal intervention to establish his paternity through a DNA test. He conspired with Rajesh, a former Army officer from the same regiment to commit the murders while Ranjini's mother was away. After the crime, the duo fled Kerala changed their identities and started a business in Puducherry. Kumar adopted the name Vishnu, while Rajesh went by Praveen Kumar and even purchased properties and married in Puducherry.

The case remained unsolved for years despite a lookout notice and a reward of ₹2 lakh for information on the fugitives. The breakthrough came when the Kerala Police recreated AI images of the suspects, leading to a tip-off about their whereabouts. Using this information, a CBI team tracked and arrested the duo, who had been declared Proclaimed Offenders in 2013. The arrests mark the end of an 18-year-long manhunt for the accused.