KOCHI: The district crime branch probing the death of three persons — including models Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan — in a car crash has decided to issue a notice asking Kakkanad native Syju Thankachan, who had followed the victims in the wee hours of November 1 after the party at Fort Kochi’s Hotel No 18, to appear for interrogation.
Syju had earlier approached the High Court seeking anticipatory bail. Sources in the investigation team said Syju’s details were collected as part of the probe. “We found that he is a regular at parties that are held in various hotels in Kochi. Though people in his friends circle know him as a businessman, we did not find any details about his business activities here,” said a source.
“There are suspicions about his role in the incident as he had followed the ill-fated car driven by Abdul Rahman and intercepted it at Kundannoor. He was also at the accident spot and on the premises of the hospital where the accident victims were admitted,” said the source.
Syju was interrogated once but went absconding when asked to appear for questioning again. At the hearing on his anticipatory bail plea on Tuesday, the crime branch informed the HC that Syju was not arraigned in the case. A proper notice will be issued if he is arraigned.
One last attempt
The probe team will make a final attempt to find the hard disk containing the CCTV footage from the hotel. The hotel’s owner Roy J Vayalat had said the disk was dumped in Vembanad lake. Recently, fishermen informed the police that they had caught an object that looks like a hard disk in their net near Kanamkattu bridge. Believing it had no use, they had thrown it back in the lake.
“We will deploy scuba divers of the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services at the place. Retrieving the hard disk is crucial as it is a major piece of evidence,” said an official. The crime branch has seized the car that the hotel’s employees used to dump the hard disk in the lake on Roy’s directive. Roy will be questioned again.