A man in southern India has been arrested alongside an alleged accomplice for the 2006 murder of his girlfriend and her newborn twins she claimed were his.
Ranjini, 24, was found murdered with the 17-day-old twins on Feb. 10, 2006, in Kollam, a city in the southern Indian state of Kerala, The New Indian Express, The Week and the Times of India ,TOI) reported.
Now, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India has arrested two men in connection with the killings that took place nearly 19 years ago.
CBI officers arrested Divil Kumar B., 42, and Rajesh P., 48, who then appeared in a Kerala court on Saturday, Jan. 4, The week, The New Indian Express andTOI reported. They were arrested in the city of Puducherry, more than 350 miles from Kollam.
Divil and Rajesh, who were both members of the Indian Army, were allegedly living under false identities at the time of the arrest, the outlets reported.
The investigation began on Feb. 10, 2006, when Ranjini and her children were found dead by her mother, police said, per The Week and The New Indian Express,
Ranjini, who was in a relationship with Divil, had given birth to the pair of twins on Jan. 24, 2006, a police report said, per TOI and The New Indian Express,
Divil denied paternity of the twins and, after Ranjini brought the matter to the state government, he was ordered to take a DNA test to determine if he was the father, an investigation revealed, according to TOI, The Week and the Northeast Herald,
Authorities allege, as a result of the DNA test order, Divil decided to kill Ranjini and the children. Divil is accused of recruiting fellow army personnel Rajesh to carry out the alleged murder.
The two reportedly took leave from their duties and arrived in the city where Ranjini lived around the time of her delivery date, police said, per The Week,
Police allege Rajesh showed up at the hospital, befriended Ranjini and her family under the false name of Anil Kumar. He then reportedly offered to help them financially and dropped Ranjini off at her home, allegedly in an attempt to familiarize himself with the premises.
On Feb. 10, 2006, Rajesh dropped Ranjini's mother at a local government office to obtain the twins' birth certificates, before he allegedly went to Ranjini's home and killed her and the children, per police, The Week reported. He allegedly slit the woman's throat; it wasn't clear how the children died,
Ranjini's mother returned home and found the three victims' bodies, according to a police report cited by The New Indian Express and the Northeast Herald,
Even though Divil was initially questioned by police, he later absconded and has been living under a false identity for the last two decades, per TOI and The Week.
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Authorities eventually tracked down the suspects using AI and reverse-image search, according to police, TOI reported.
Using age progression tools, investigators generated an image of what Divil would look like today. They then used this image to “reverse search” on social media and found a photo that was a match, The Week reported. They tracked him down to Puducherry, where he goes by the name Vishnu, and runs an interior design firm while living with his wife and children.
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