Thiruvananthapuram: A man was arrested on Tuesday for killing four family members as a part of his occult rituals in Thiruvananthapuram.

Cadell Jeanson Raja(30) has an extreme desire to speak with souls and to fulfill it he was working on the experiment to detach human souls from their bodies. He bought a hatchet from online and killed his mother, father and sister on April 5 and later on April 7 he killed his aunt. The murder came into light on April 8 when the locals saw the dead bodies charred at his home. Out of four, three bodies were charred and a body was chopped and stuffed in a gunny bag.

Police was shocked to see the incident, they arrested Raja and sent him to interrogation. Raja agreed that he killed his family members and told the police that performing astral projections gave him extra strength which helped him push his physical and intellectual limits. Astral projection is an unscientific stream of esotericism that involves separating one’s soul from its physical shell to create an out-of-body experience.

The victims were identified as retired cardiologist Dr Jean Padma, her husband Professor Raj Thankam, their daughter Caroline, and a relative Lalitha. Caroline had come home on vacation from China, where she was studying medicine.

Police nabbed Raja from Thiruvananthapuram central railway station who went absconding on Sunday.