Idukki (Kerala) | The probe into a theft case has led the Kerala Police to two hitherto undiscovered murders, including that of a toddler, police here said on Sunday.

According to police, forensic experts have initiated the process to exhume one of the bodies from a rented accommodation at Kattappana near here today.

The cops stumbled upon the murders while investigating a routine case of theft in a local store in which they had arrested Ernakulam residents Nitheesh (31) and Idukki Vishnu (27) on March 2.

As part of the investigation, police went to Vishnu's house, where they came across details about the murders of his father Vijayan and of his newborn nephew, officials said.

Police said that they realised things were not adding up as the family members revealed that Vijayan was missing for the last few months.

According to the FIR registered yesterday by the cops, Nitheesh allegedly bludgeoned Vijayan to death due to a past enmity. Later, Vishnu and his mother Suma allegedly helped him bury Vijayan's body in a room inside the house.

"We suspect that this happened in August 2023," police told PTI.

Police also discovered that a child was born to Vishnu's sister and Nitheesh. In 2016, Vishnu, Vijayan and Nitheesh had allegedly murdered the baby and buried the body in a cattle shed of another rented house.

The police have now registered an FIR in this case as well. Evidence has been collected to probe both cases, they said.

Vishnu is currently under treatment after suffering an injury during the theft attempt and is in judicial custody.