For the hapless mother who was abandoned by the relatives after the daughter got pregnant, the friendly stranger was godsend. He was there to run around for errands. When Renjini, who gave birth to two daughters, was discharged, he, too, accompanied the family to their home. He would visit them often. On February 10, 2006, 17 days after Renjini was discharged, Rajesh came and allegedly murdered her and her daughters.

What gave away the carefully woven plot was a second-hand motorbike that Rajesh had purchased from Ulloor near Thiruvananthapuram. Investigators say that the cap of its oil tank developed a problem and he approached a mechanic to fix it. Police believe Divil too was with him when he stayed in the city. The mechanic had noted down the number and told the police that he had seen the man who came with the bike take money from an SBI ATM.

“We took out the transaction list and found that one person who withdrew the money had an army address. Later we took out his photograph and showed to Renjini’s mother and she identified Anil, who was Rajesh,” says Rashid. The investigators say Divil resumed duty on the day of the murder.

When Kerala Police sought Divil’s presence for investigations, he was sent along with a fellow officer but he jumped from the moving train before it reached Delhi and escaped. The Army version is slightly different. Its spokesperson said: “Both haven’t joined duty after the leave. We have provided the Kerala police with their service records and are helping them in the investigations.”