THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police on Tuesday arrested the temporary driver of Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine’s private secretary for an alleged robbery bid at a house near Kuravankonam last Wednesday. They suspect that Malayinkeezhu native Santosh, 34, is also involved in the sexual assault on a woman doctor on the Museum premises that occurred a few minutes later.
The Peroorkada police said they arrested Santhosh, the driver of Roshy’s private secretary B Gopakumaran Nair, based on CCTV footage. He bears resemblance to the assault suspect’s sketch that the police had prepared.
“Santhosh will be produced before the victim for identification. Only then can we confirm whether he was involved in the assault case,” said a source with the police. CCTV visuals from the spot of the first incident revealed that Santhosh had tried to break into a woman’s house in the morning while she was alone.
He was also found to have parked his white Innova car near Kuravankonam at 4am, sources said. The 36-year-old doctor was sexually assaulted just outside the Museum compound around 4.45am. She had alleged that a bearded man wearing white sleeveless T-shirt and black trousers, who arrived in a white car, assaulted her while she was approaching the Museum gate near the Thiruvananthapuram corporation office.
13 questioned so far in sexual assault case
When she resisted, he scaled a fence and fled. The doctor alerted the museum security, who notified the nearby police station. However, the culprit escaped. One of the CCTV visuals shows a man fleeing the place even as the woman tried to chase him.
The police have questioned 13 people in connection with the sexual assault case. The victim had earlier gone through photographs of 10 people and physically verified three others rounded up by the police. All of them were released after she confirmed that the assailant was not among them.
The Museum compound in the heart of the state capital is the most-preferred morning walk destination for the city’s elite, including top police officials. The woman alleged that the police did not do enough to apprehend the culprit on the spot despite being told he was hiding inside the museum.