KOCHI : The death of a 28-year-old man after his scooter got caught in a rope tied across the road at Valanjambalam in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit has triggered a row over the alleged shoddy barricading by the police.
Manoj Unni of Vaduthala, a contract worker with the Kochi corporation, died in the accident that took place at Sahodaran Ayyappan road around 9.45pm on Sunday.
As per the PM’s itinerary, Modi was to stay at the Ernakulam guest house for the night and leave for Kunnamkulam to address an election rally on Monday morning. Hence, the police tied a rope across SA road to prevent vehicles from entering MG Road between 9pm and 11pm.
Manoj, who was moving to his parents’ house in Ravipuram after buying medicines for his mother, raced past the rope. His scooter got caught in it and he lost control of the vehicle, resulting in a fall in which he suffered serious head injuries.
Police officers deployed at Valanjambalam rushed Manoj to a private hospital nearby, where he succumbed to injuries around 1.15am on Monday. The body was handed over to relatives after postmortem examination by evening.
Meanwhile, his family refuted reports that Manoj was riding under the influence of alcohol, with his sister Chippy U M saying he was a teetotaller.
“My brother never consumed liquor. He does not even drink wine. The hospital authorities too confirmed that no alcohol content was found in his blood,” Chippy said, blaming the improper barricading for her brother’s death.
“People who tried to rescue Manoj said there were no street lights at the spot where the rope was tied. There was also no sign to alert drivers about the barricade. Manoj may have spotted the rope too late to have applied the brakes on time,” Chippy said, adding, “After cremation, I will visit the police station to view the CCTV footage of the incident.”
Kochi commissioner S Syamsundar denied any wrongdoing by the police and said the accident was primarily caused due to speeding.
“There were sufficient policemen deployed on the stretch to alert drivers about the roadblock. In fact, some officers did alert the deceased, but he moved at a high speed, leading to the accident,” Syamsundar said.
The Ernakulam South police have registered a case and launched a probe. The officers said it is not confirmed whether Manoj was drunk. “Whether or not he was under the influence of alcohol can be confirmed only after getting reports of the medical tests and autopsy. Our preliminary analysis after examining CCTV footage is that he was riding at a high speed and failed to apply brakes on time. But, a more scientific probe is required to confirm the exact reason for the accident,” said an officer.