Mijay Vallya, the founder of one of India’s largest family-owned conglomerates, was found dead late last night in the private study of his Kochi residence. He had been struck in the head with a heavy bronze statue from his desk. Two suspects have emerged.
Suspect 1: The daughter
Vallya’s daughter has been the public face of the company for the past decade, running several of its most profitable divisions and widely expected by investors to eventually succeed her father. However, two days before the murder, Vallya privately informed senior executives that he planned to replace her as successor and appoint his younger, less involved son instead, claiming that the daughter had become “too independent” and difficult to control. He had also begun discussing plans to arrange a marriage for her with the son of another powerful Indian business family, a proposal she strongly opposed. According to family members, the daughter confronted her father angrily about these decisions earlier that evening.
Suspect 2: The younger brother
Vallya’s younger brother had long been involved in the conglomerate but had always remained in his brother’s shadow. A few days before the murder, Vallya allegedly caught his brother in bed with his wife, leading to a serious confrontation between the two men. In recent weeks leading up to the murder, several journalists had begun investigating and reporting on allegations of financial misconduct linked to the company. According to internal emails later discovered by police, following the cheating incident, Vallya began discussing plans with senior executives to distance the company from the scandal by shifting responsibility for the alleged misconduct onto his brother.