The Kerala government has transferred Kochi police commissioner Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar and suspended four police personnel over alleged lapses in the investigation into a fatal crash involving a Mercedes-Benz allegedly driven by the 17-year-old son of an additional district judge.
R Nishanthini will replace Kumar as Kochi city police commissioner, while P Prakash has been appointed inspector general of police for the South Region. Prakash will also continue to hold charge of the State Crime Records Bureau. A government order announcing the transfers was issued following directions from Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
The four suspended personnel are Cheranallur station house officer and sub-inspector Viswajith V S, circle inspector Syam Kumar K S, grade assistant sub-inspector Manoj K T and senior civil police officer Arun Joshy. Chennithala announced the suspensions in the assembly on Tuesday, citing serious lapses in the handling of the case.
The action follows scrutiny of the police response to the Cheranallur accident, in which 55-year-old Jayabalakrishnan, a roadside eatery operator from Manjali, was killed. According to the report, the crash occurred at about 2.20 am when the car allegedly hit his scooter from behind on Container Road near Maraparambu. He was taken to hospital but later died.
Police initially registered the case under provisions relating to death caused by negligence, based on the initial First Information Statement. The case was later altered to Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which deals with culpable homicide, after investigators said evidence indicated that the car was travelling at excessive speed.
The Mercedes-Benz is registered in the name of the teenager’s father, an additional district judge. The teenager was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which granted him bail. Police have since approached the court seeking cancellation of the bail, according to ADGP (law and order) P Vijayan.
The preliminary police report indicated that the teenager was not under the influence of alcohol. Blood samples were collected for further analysis. The government action and the police request for bail cancellation are the next formal steps reported in the case.
