KOCHI: DYFI members staged a protest in front of the Nedumbassery police station on Tuesday, accusing the police of attempting to protect the accused in Sunday’s road accident that killed three youths, even as Aluva Rural SP K S Sudarshan dismissed the allegations of police lapses.
In the remand report submitted before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Angamaly, the police sought the accused persons’ custody for further investigation. They cited the possibility of evidence being destroyed, witnesses being influenced, threatened or harmed, and the accused absconding if released. The report said the investigators also needed to ascertain whether the accused were engaged in racing with other vehicles at the time of the incident and whether the driver, 19-year-old Suhail Sajeev, had consumed narcotic substances.
The CPM Ernakulam district wing has alleged that the police deliberately delayed registering the FIR and failed to mention the accused’s name despite him being in custody. However, Sudarshan said the FIR had been registered based on the statement of Priyad, who was with the deceased persons when the accident happened. The witness had identified the vehicle but could not identify its driver at the time, Sudarshan said.
“The FIR was registered based on the statements available immediately after the incident. The complainant could identify the vehicle but not the driver. The police can record only what a witness states. This will not adversely affect the case,” he said.
Sudarshan said subsequent investigation established that Suhail was driving the car. He was arrested after the police collected evidence, including witness statements and CCTV footage.
Sudarshan also clarified that the accused’s intoxication was mentioned in the remand report. Suhail underwent a medical examination after being taken into custody, and the findings were included in the report, he said.
The police have invoked the charge of culpable homicide, along with provisions relating to drunken driving and abetment in the remand report, the SP said. Iyas from Kodagu in Karnataka, Devika from Wayanad and Gopika from Mannarkkad in Palakkad, were killed after the two-wheeler they were on was rammed by the car driven by Suhail at Nedumbassery in the early hours of Sunday.
