Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 26 (IANS): Close on the heels of the 'Jolly' family murder trail, the Kerala Police have initiated probe into deaths of seven members of a family, here, with a distant relative on the probe team's radar as accused.

The deaths took place in the family Gopinathan Nair between 2000 and 2017, and included Nair, his wife Sumukhi Amma and their children -- Jaybalakrishnan, Jayprakash, Jaysree -- and two nephews Unnikrishnan and Jaymadhavan.

The Nair family owned huge real estate. According to the complaint, of this Rs 30 crore properties have been swindled.

The police launched the probe after a complaint from a family member and a neighbour.

A special probe team has been set up. "The police have begun the probe. There appears to be a case after going through the preliminary complaint," said Kerala police chief Loknath Behra.

Ravindran Nair, a distant relative of Nair, the caretaker of family assets, is suspected to be behind these deaths. However, he has denied any wrongdoing.

"The complaint has surfaced because I didn't yield to their (plaints') demands. They tried their best to put me under duress. But I didn't give in. Now to harass me, they have filed a police complaint," a said Ravindran Nair.