Onmanorama's Kerala Crime Files Podcast

He was not a criminal or a rebel—just a student whose name still echoes across Kerala. What happened to P Rajan inside the walls of the Kakkayam camp exposed a darkness deeper than crime itself. During India’s Emergency, Rajan, a bright engineering student, was picked up, tortured, and vanished without a trace. The state claimed he had escaped, but his father, T V Eachara Warrier, refused to believe the lie. His relentless pursuit of truth led to Kerala’s first habeas corpus case, forcing the police to admit what they had buried—Rajan had died in custody. The revelation shook the government, brought down a Chief Minister, and tore open the veil of power’s cruelty. This episode of Kerala Crime Files revisits the Rajan case—a story of a father’s unyielding fight, a student’s silenced voice, and a democracy that momentarily forgot its conscience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Seventeen-year-old Sophia left home for love, unaware that her new life would spiral into horror. Mohanan’s family, guided by a mysterious sorcerer, planned a human sacrifice—promising wealth and blessings at a deadly cost. Sophia was brutally murdered, her fate hidden from the world. But whispers of her disappearance stirred suspicion, drawing the police closer. As the investigation unfolded, shocking confessions and horrifying evidence came to light. This episode of Onmanorama’s Kerala Crime Files reveals a chilling tale of betrayal, ritual killing, and the terrifying grip of blind faith.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2022, the quiet village of Elanthoor in Pathanamthitta became the backdrop for one of Kerala’s most shocking crimes. Two women, Padmam and Rosly, went missing and were later found brutally murdered and buried near the home of healer Bhagaval Singh and his wife, Laila.  The true architect was Muhammad Shafi, a repeat offender who manipulated the couple into believing human sacrifice would bring them wealth and protection.  This episode of Onmanorama's Kerala Crime Files unravels how blind belief, desperation, and greed led to a ritual of unimaginable cruelty that scarred a once-celebrated village forever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

She was just 27, weighing barely twenty-one kilos when death claimed her. But this was no illness. It was murder—by slow starvation. For six years, Tushara was silenced, cut off from her family, and trapped inside a home ruled by dowry demands, cruelty, and occult rituals.  Her husband Chandulal and mother-in-law Geetha Lal orchestrated every step of her isolation, until her emaciated body told the truth. In 2025, a Kollam court called it India’s first starvation murder.  This episode of Kerala Crime Files traces a chilling story of control, secrecy, and justice delivered—too late for Tushara.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In October 1993, the quiet village of Perla in Kasaragod witnessed a crime both brutal and bizarre. Imam Hussain, a self proclaimed sorcerer, lured farmer Sreekrishna Bhat and his wife Sreemathi into a fake ritual, promising hidden treasure. Instead, he murdered them for just eight sovereigns of jewellery, leaving behind three orphaned children and a community in shock. Among the strangest details was a rooster, seized as “evidence” and kept under police protection, even subjected to a post-mortem examination after its death. This episode of Kerala Crime Files revisits the Devalokam double murder—where black magic, greed, and a crowing witness collided.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In January 2013, Thiruvananthapuram witnessed one of its most audacious heists when India’s infamous “super thief” Bunty Chor broke into a heavily fortified mansion in Muttada. Scaling walls and smashing cameras, he looted valuables and drove off in a ₹28-lakh Mitsubishi Outlander—pausing to wave mockingly at a surviving CCTV.  Born Devinder Singh in Delhi, Bunty’s life was a mix of daring thefts, cinematic escapes, and brief stints of fame, even on Bigg Boss. For Kerala Police, the burglary was a humiliation; for Bunty, it was a theatre. This episode of Kerala Crime Files brings you the story of Bunty Chor’s audacious heist.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Year’s Eve, 2007. Families across Kerala were preparing for celebrations, but in Malappuram a daring gang was drilling through eight inches of reinforced concrete into the South Malabar Gramin Bank. By morning, 80 kilos of gold and lakhs in cash had vanished. No fingerprints, no footprints—just a note saying, “Jai Maoist.” What followed was an investigation into one of Kerala’s boldest heists, which gripped the state. This episode of Kerala Crime Files revisits the Chelembra bank robbery that stunned Kerala and rewrote the history of crime in the state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was the boy who sold Kerala a dream—quick-witted, and charming. In the mid-2000s, nineteen-year-old Shabarinath promised to double your money, and people believed him. Film stars, business magnates, and even judicial officers poured crores into his company, Total4U. The parties were lavish, the returns dazzling, until the cracks showed. What followed was a collapse that revealed black money trails, an abduction, luxury cars seized, and a three-year run as a fugitive. This episode of Kerala Crime Files unpacks the rise and fall of a teenager who turned charm into a weapon and left an entire state counting its losses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not a broken lock. Not a shattered door. Just a scribbled scrap of paper from a temple well.In 1981, the sacred Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple lost its golden Shiva idol in a heist that felt more like a movie script than a real-life crime.A crowbar, a crumpled school notebook, and a cold trail led police to a thief with nerves of steel — and a plan as daring as it was precise.This episode of Kerala Crime Files uncovers the theft that stunned a town and revealed how one careless clue cracked open a web of temple robberies across the state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He wasn’t a stranger. He was their son. Her brother. The quiet one. But in April 2017, after meticulous planning, he turned their home into a slaughterhouse. Four family members murdered. Bodies burned. A dummy left behind to mislead the police.What turned a son into a remorseless killer? This episode of Kerala Crime Files retraces the horror that unfolded in Kerala’s capital.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was family. He shared meals and memories. but one day, he became the villain of their lives.In a quiet home just 200 metres from a police station, six lives were snuffed out in a single night. What followed was a manhunt that pushed the limits of Kerala’s investigative capabilities and rewrote forensic history. But the most disturbing detail? The killer didn’t flee in panic. He stayed. He waited. And then he vanished. This episode of Kerala Crime Files unravels the story of the Aluva massacre, a case where betrayal wore a familiar face, and the most trusted became the most feared.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He was the man who terrorised border villages for a year—brutal, unpredictable, and unrepentant. But what unfolded after his conviction was unlike anything India had seen. For four long years on death row, Muthukutti Chandran—later dubbed Ripper Chandran—lived in the shadows of the gallows, slipping through execution dates, hiding sleeping pills to end his life on his terms, and then giving them away as a token of friendship. This episode of Kerala Crime Files peels back the layers of a chilling case—one that saw the court’s verdict delayed by public sentiment, rare rope shortages, missing hangmen, and a convict’s astonishing transformation behind bars.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1980, Kerala was rocked by one of its most chilling twin murders. A peaceful home in Meenthalakkara turned into a crime scene, and the nation watched as a relative—once lovingly called Madrasile Mon—emerged as the prime suspect. This is the story of the Karikkanvilla Murder and the man at its centre: Reni George. A drug-addicted killer who became a preacher. A death row convict who went on to win the Citizen of the Year award. In this debut episode of Kerala Crime Files, we revisit the brutal crime that shook a village, the gripping police investigation that followed, and the extraordinary transformation of a man who found faith and purpose inside prison walls.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.