Satish had visited Poovar in 2004

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rohit Thankappan Joseph alias Satish Kaliya, the killer of journalist J Dey, had visited his home town Poovar, a fishing hamlet near Thiruvananthapuram in 2004.‘‘He was here for three to four months in his aunt’s house and had never returned after that,’’ said Vinod Kumar, CPI leader representing Kalinkavilakom ward in the Poovar panchayat.Vinod Kumar was the first to recognise Satish from the television images when he was arrested by the Mumbai police.  Vinod informed this to Satish’s aunt Radha and she too has recognised him. Satish alias Rohit is the son of Saraswati, the elder sister of Radha.Vinod told Express that the Maharashtra police had reached Poovar in 2004 in search of Satish and had informed Radha that he was a wanted man for them due to his underworld connections.  This visit by police had created severe stress to the family of Radha and her husband had even collapsed on seeing the police team.Though many in Poovar hardly know Satish, he was familiar to the close neighbours as he had stayed here for four months. ‘‘Since he was a new face, everyone used to inquire about him then,’’ said Vinod.  Radha along with her family came back to Poovar in 1982 from Mumbai. Now only Saraswati but her another sister Prasanna is settled in Mumbai.Vinod along with other natives here are of the belief that once the Maharashtra police reached here in 2004, the area has always been under the constant surveillance of the Mumbai police. There are also reports that after murder of J Dey, intelligence officials from Mumbai had visited Poovar.