After nearly two decades, the Kerala Police has brought closure to a harrowing triple murder case with the aid of artificial intelligence. The 2006 murders of a young woman, Ranjini, and her 17-day-old twin daughters in Kollam had remained unsolved—until last week when two former armymen were arrested for their roles in the crime.
The suspects, Divil Kumar and Rajesh, had vanished after the murders, leaving investigators with little to work on. However, the case took a significant turn when AI tools were employed to track the suspects, who had been living under false identities in Puducherry.
In 2006, Divil Kumar and Rajesh were identified as prime suspects shortly after the crime. Both were stationed with the Army in Pathankot, Punjab, and belonged to Kerala. Despite early progress in the investigation, the suspects managed to disappear, and the trail went cold.
It wasn’t until January 4, 2025, that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested the men, who had assumed new identities. Divil, now 42, was living under the name Vishnu, while Rajesh, 48, had taken the alias Praveen Kumar. Both had started new lives as interior designers, married to schoolteachers, and had blended into their community in Puducherry.
The Role of AI in the Breakthrough
The key to solving this long-standing case was the Kerala Police’s innovative use of artificial intelligence. Investigators utilized AI technology to predict the suspects’ current appearances by digitally aging old photographs.
“Old photographs of the suspects were digitally aged to predict their current appearance, factoring in changes such as hairstyles and facial features. These AI-generated images were then cross-referenced with photos on social media platforms,” said Kerala ADGP (Law and Order) Manoj Abraham. “One AI image had a 90 per cent match with a wedding photograph found on Facebook. This match led us to Rajesh in Puducherry, who eventually guided us to Divil.”
The police handed over the findings to the CBI, as the case was under its jurisdiction. The CBI’s Chennai unit acted on the leads and successfully apprehended the accused.
The investigation revealed a chilling backstory. Ranjini and Divil, neighbors in Alayamon, Kollam, were once in a relationship. When Ranjini became pregnant, Divil allegedly cut ties with her and returned to his Army posting. After she gave birth to twin daughters in January 2006, Divil enlisted the help of his Army colleague Rajesh to execute a murder plot.
Rajesh posed as Anil Kumar from Kollam and befriended Ranjini under false pretenses. On the day of the crime, Ranjini’s mother, who had stepped out to collect the twins’ birth certificates, returned home to a horrifying scene—her daughter and granddaughters had been killed.
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