Kerala Couple, Their Friend Found Dead Inside Arunachal Hotel Room

Kerala police on Tuesday said it will be sending a team to Arunachal Pradesh in connection with the death of three persons hailing from the state amidst speculations that black magic may be behind their deaths.

Kerala police, however, said it cannot presently say that it was due to black magic.

Thiruvananthapuram city police Commissioner C Nagaraju said there appears to be something abnormal in the behaviour of the three -- a married couple and a woman -- but nothing can be said conclusively till their mobiles and other electronic devices are examined.

"We cannot say it was due to black magic or something like that. Our team will go there tonight. After the procedures are completed, we can bring the evidence from there. So it will take some time," the top officer of the city police said.

He also said it needs to be investigated why the three went there and how their deaths occurred.

The officer also said that prima facie they do not have information about any other such groups.

"But we need to probe as to why this group was formed and what was their common objective.

Police in Arunachal Pradesh's Lower Subansiri district on Tuesday recovered three bodies from a hotel room under mysterious conditions.

The couple from Kottayam and their friend from Thiruvananthapuram were found dead inside a room of Hotel Blue Pine at Hapoli, the district headquarters, police said.

They were identified as Thiruvananthapuram native Arya and Kottayam residents Naveen and his wife Devi.

Meanwhile, Soorya Krishnamoorthy, an art connoisseur and cultural activist, who is a friend of the couple's family, told reporters that Devi's father -- a wildlife photographer -- was of the view that black magic was behind the deaths.

"They came to know about the deaths in the afternoon. He (the father) told me that the couple had fallen into the trap of black magic. All three who died were well educated. So, it is a serious issue if they have fallen into such a trap. Awareness needs to be created against it in the public," he said.

He also said that the couple were ayurveda doctors.

Local residents living near Naveen's family said that the couple were married 13 years ago and used to come and visit his parents occasionally.

The three had reached the hotel on March 28.

Police in Arunachal Pradesh said the initial investigations suggested suicide, but only after the autopsy report is received can a definitive conclusion be arrived at.

Naveen was into online trading, while his wife Devi taught German at a private school and Arya was a French teacher in the same school.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)