Motta Navas (born 1966) is a psychopathic serial killer who operated in the city of Kollam, Kerala, India between June and August 2012. Pavement dwellers were bludgeoned to death while they slept. All the murders took place at night and were committed by using stones or hard, blunt objects.

Early murders

Navas had already been convicted twice for murder. In 1996 he was arrested on charges of murdering Rajasekaran at Mundakkal in Kollam and was jailed for four years. He was acquitted because there were no witnesses. In 2007 he was arrested again on charges of murdering one Shamir at Karikode in the city following which he was arrested and convicted.

Serial killings

A series of brutal murders in the city of Kollam and nearby areas rocked the city in June 2012. Pavement and hutment dwellers were bludgeoned to death while they slept. All the murders took place at night and were committed by using stones or hard, blunt objects. A drug addict, Navas used to sleep by 8 p.m. and wake up at midnight to roam the city, targeting victims.

The first murder was committed on June 6 night. The victim, aged about 65 years, was hit on the head with a huge stone while he was sleeping under a flyover. The second murder was committed the very next night on the veranda of a shop. Appukuttan Achary was bludgeoned in the nape of his neck, fatally damaging the spine.

The third murder was on the night of June 18, also under the same flyover. Bondan Kumar, 65, was hit on the head with a stone. On August 3, Thankappan, 55, a native of Sasthamcotta, was found dead inside a bus waiting shed. He was sleeping in the shed when Navas attacked.

The fifth murder was committed on the night of August 21 at the veranda of the Municipal Building in Chinnakkada. Sudarsanan, 45, was hit on the head with a stone. Navas had attempted two more murders, but the victims escaped with injuries.

Arrest

Soon after the second murder, the police had suspected Navas and had taken him into custody. But he pretended to be mentally challenged and the police got him admitted to a mental asylum in Thiruvananthapuram. But psychiatrists found him mentally fit and he was discharged. He came back to Kollam and allegedly committed the other murders.

Night patrol teams of the police had noticed Navas loitering in the city on those days, but on seeing the police party he feigned mental illness and was ignored by the police. After investigations which lasted about a fortnight a police team led by Kollam East Circle Inspector V. Sugathan, Sub Inspector G. Gopakumar, and senior civil police officer Prasanna Kumar arrested Navas from the Nehru Park area in the city on 2 November 2012.

Wikipedia.org

Serial Killer Spotlight: ‘Motta’ Navas, Bashed Victims Heads in with a Rock

By Cora Van Olson - TruTV.com

May 14, 2013

Motta Navas, 46, was arrested on November 1, 2012, after a series of murders in Kollam, Kerala, India, committed between June and August. The targets were sleeping street people, those who live in shanty-like structures erected in the street against walls of private properties. They have lived in India’s city roadways for generations, and are to most invisible.

There is very little available about Navas’ life in English. The victims were all easy targets, and the killer made no effort to hide his work. There is no mention of any sexual assault or post mortem mutilation. The lack of any obvious motive seems to indicate that his victims were merely objects on which to vent a homicidal rage.

Navas, reportedly a drug addict, would go to sleep early, around 8 p.m., and wake around midnight to hunt for prey, according to police. The victims mostly had their heads bashed in, often with a stone. The reports do not mention robbery, so the attacks were not intended to fund Navas’ alleged drug habit. Navas has had a mental evaluation, so insanity is probably not a driving factor, though he seems to fake the symptoms effectively when it suits his purposes.

According to police the first victim, killed on June 6, 2012, was a man about 65. He was bludgeoned to death while sleeping under an underpass. Authorities were having difficulty identifying him. The second victim, killed the very next night, did have a name: Appukuttan Achary. He was struck on the back the neck with such force that his spine was fatally damaged. Soon after Achary’s murder police had Navas taken into custody as a suspect. Navas had two prior murder convictions, one for the murder of one Rajasekaran in 1996, for which he was released after four years due to a lack of witnesses; another in 2007 for the murder of one Shamir, for which he was released in 2011. No motive or details of those murders has been released. When police arrested Navas in June 2012 he feigned mental illness, and was remanded to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Psychiatrists found him mentally fit — and released him. He returned to Kollam, where he would allegedly kill three more people.

On June 18 the third victim, Bondan Kumar, was bludgeoned to death with a stone under the same underpass as the first victim. On August 3, the body of Thankappan, 55, was found in a pool of blood in a bus shelter outside the Saint Joseph’s Convent School. He also was attacked in his sleep. The fifth murder attributed to this series was committed while the victim, Sudarsanan, 45, slept in the shelter of the Municipal Building in Chinnakada. He too was had his brains bashed out with a stone.

Between Sudarsanan’s murder and his arrest, Navas allegedly tried to kill two more people, but those victims, whose names have not been released, managed to escape with their lives. Though police noticed Navas in the vicinity of the attacks those nights, he feigned mental illness, so they ignored him. He is currently in custody awaiting trial.

Man held on charge of five murders

Victims bludgeoned to death while sleeping by the roadside at night

TheHindu.com

November 3, 2012

The Kollam police on Thursday arrested Motta Navas, 46, on charge of committing five murders in the city between June and August this year.

All the victims had been bludgeoned to death while they were sleeping by the roadside at night. The cases are reminiscent of the 41 killings by Raman Raghav in Mumbai in the mid 1960s, according to the police.

The Additional Director-General of Police (South Zone) had last month convened an emergency meeting and issued directions to constitute a special team headed by the City Police Commissioner Debesh Kumar Behera to speed up the probe.

After investigations which lasted about a fortnight a police team led by Circle Inspector V. Sugathan, Sub Inspector G. Gopakumar, and senior civil police officer Prasanna Kumar arrested Navas from the Nehru Park area in the city on Friday night.

Soon after the second murder, the police had suspected Navas and had taken him into custody. But he pretended to be mentally challenged and the police got him admitted to Government Mental Health Centre, Thiruvananthapuram. But psychiatrists found him mentally fit and he was discharged. He came back to Kollam and allegedly committed the other murders.

Mr. Gopakumar said that the first murder was committed on June 6 night. The victim, aged about 65 years, was hit on the head with a huge stone while he was sleeping under the SP Office Junction flyover which is under construction. He is yet to be identified.

The second murder was committed the very next night on the veranda of a shop near the Mulankadakam temple. Appukuttan Achary was bludgeoned in the nape of his neck, fatally damaging the spine. The third murder was on the night of June 18, also under the SP Office junction flyover. Bondan Kumar, 65, was hit on the head with a stone.

Two murder attempts

On August 3, Thankappan, 55, a native of Sasthamcotta, was found lying in a pool of blood inside the waiting shed of the Saint Joseph’s Convent School bus stand.

He was sleeping in the shed when Navas allegedly attacked. The fifth murder was committed on the night of August 21 at the veranda of the Municipal Building in Chinnakada. Sudarsanan, 45, was hit on the head with a stone.

Mr. Gopakumar said that Navas had attempted two more murders, but the victims escaped with injuries. Night patrol teams of the police had noticed Navas loitering in the city on those days, but on seeing the police party he feigned mental illness and was ignored by the police.

Jailed twice for murder

Allegedly a drug addict, Navas used to sleep by 8 p.m. and wake up at midnight to roam the city, targeting victims. The police suspect him to be psychopath. Mr. Gopakumar said Navas had confessed to the murders. In 1996 he was arrested on charges of murdering one Rajasekaran at Mundakkal and was jailed for four years. He was acquitted because there were no witnesses.

In 2007 he was arrested again on charges of murdering one Shamir at Karikode in the city following which he was arrested and convicted. He came out of jail last year. Navas was produced before a magistrate court here on Friday and remanded to the district jail.

Motta Navas, 46, was arrested on November 1, 2012, after a series of murders in Kollam, Kerala, India, committed between June and August.