Crime

The disappearance of Vijayalakshmi, a woman from Karunagappally who had been missing since November 6, ended after police recovered her body from a property at Karoor near Ambalappuzha in Alappuzha district. Her family had filed a missing-person complaint, and investigators later traced her mobile phone and communication records while examining the circumstances surrounding her disappearance. Police took Jayachandran, a resident of Karoor, into custody after the investigation linked him to Vijayalakshmi. According to police, he confessed to killing her following a dispute and burying the body near a house under construction. The recovery brought the missing-person investigation to a close and led to a murder probe into the circumstances surrounding her death.

A 41-year-old remand prisoner, Sarath Prasad, a native of Punnapra in Alappuzha, was found dead inside the Alappuzha District Jail on April 26, 2026. He had been arrested and remanded in connection with the alleged assault of a duty doctor at Alappuzha General Hospital. According to police, Sarath was found hanging from a ventilation opening in the jail after he failed to return when inmates were allowed out during meal time. Jail officials rushed him to hospital, where he was declared dead. Alappuzha South Police launched an investigation, while jail authorities also began a separate inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death.

The Alappuzha Railway Police launched an investigation after cleaning staff discovered severed human body parts, including a right arm and a toe, lodged beneath the S-5 coach of the Alappuzha–Dhanbad Express at the Alappuzha pit-line yard. The train had arrived from Dhanbad the previous evening and was undergoing routine maintenance when the remains were found on an iron bracket under the coach. Police registered a case of unnatural death and began tracing the train’s route from Jharkhand to Kerala to determine where the incident may have occurred. Authorities are also expected to coordinate with police in other states, checking recent railway accidents, unidentified deaths and missing-person reports to establish the identity of the deceased and how the remains became trapped beneath the train.

Arthunkal Police Station in Alappuzha district became the first police station in India to receive the IS/ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certification from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The certification was formally awarded on June 24, 2025, recognising the station’s commitment to quality, efficiency and citizen-focused policing. The certification acknowledges the station’s performance in areas such as crime prevention, investigation, law and order, traffic management, emergency response, judicial coordination and public grievance redressal. The recognition is also part of the Modernised Cherthala Police Programme, which aims to improve policing standards, infrastructure and public trust across the subdivision.

A surprising incident was reported from Charummoodu in Alappuzha district, where a man known locally for begging was found dead after reportedly being injured in a road accident. According to hospital records, the man identified himself as Anil Kishore before later leaving the hospital. He was found dead outside a shop the following morning. Police recovered a container found near him and opened it in the presence of local representatives. Inside were plastic tins containing more than ₹4.5 lakh in cash, including withdrawn ₹2,000 notes as well as foreign currency. Residents said he regularly sought money for food and were surprised to learn that he had been carrying such a large amount. Police said the recovered money would be produced before the court and handled according to legal procedure.