THRISSUR: Thrissur city police have arrested three people in connection with the discovery of the body of a newborn baby in the Poonkunnam MLA road canal. The baby’s mother Megha (22) of Mambattu House in Varadiyam in Thrissur, Manuel (25) of Chittatukara House in Varadiyam and his friend Amal (24) of Kundukulam House in Pappanagar colony in Varadiyam were arrested. The body of a newborn baby was found wrapped in a bag in a canal near Poonkunnam MLA Road on Tuesday morning. After being informed by people, the police took over the body and completed the inquest proceedings and transferred it to the Medical College Mortuary.

As part of the police investigation, CCTV footage was collected and it was noticed that two youths came on a bike and left the plastic bag. Following this, Manuel and his friend Amal from Thrissur’s Varadiyam were arrested. The crime came to light after questioning them.

Neighbours Manuel and Megha have been in love for more than two years. Meanwhile, Megha became pregnant. This was kept a secret from Megha’s family. Megha sleeps alone in the room upstairs. The family did not even know that Megha gave birth in the bedroom last Saturday night. Megha says she dropped the baby in a bucket full of water immediately after giving birth. She then washed and changed clothes and wrapped the baby in a plastic bag. Maternity waste was dumped in the toilet. She called her boyfriend to say that the child’s body had been placed in a plastic bag. At 11 a.m. the next morning, the body was handed over to Manuel. Manuel asked his friend Amal for help.

With the intention of cremating the body, the two got on a bike and went to a petrol pump in Mundur and bought diesel for Rs 150. But as the conditions were not suitable, they went to Peramangalam to bury the body. As people were standing there, they were unable to do that. After that, the two reached the Poonkunnam MLA Road canal area on a bike. They stopped the bike there and walked along the edge of the canal, opened the plastic cover given by Megha, lowered the dead body into the canal water and quickly went back.

After discovering the body, the accused were caught following a scientific investigation led by Thrissur Assistant Commissioner VK Raju and Special Branch Assistant Commissioner MK Gopalakrishnan under the close supervision of Thrissur City Police Commissioner R Aditya. The services of fingerprint experts, a scientific officer, a dog squad police photographer and a shadow policeman were deployed. The Thrissur City shadow police monitored the entire area using the CCTV cameras. Suspicious people were questioned in detail. An antiquated and scientific investigation helped nab the culprits within hours.

The arrested Megha is an M.Com graduate and an employee of a private financial institution in Thrissur. Manuel is a painting worker.

City Police Commissioner R Aditya and Assistant Commissioner VK Raju said that based on the post-mortem report, further investigations into the baby’s DNA test are underway and further action is being taken after arresting the culprits. Thrissur Town West Police Station Principal Sub-Inspector KR Ramin, Sub-Inspector KG Jayanarayanan, Shadow Police Sub-Inspectors NG Suvruthakumar, PM Rafi, K Gopalakrishnan, P Ragesh, Senior Civil Police Officers Palaniswami, Jeevan TV, MS Ligesh and Vipindas were in the team that arrested the accused.