How the Mini Cooper accident case casts a shadow on Kerala Police

An FIR without the drunk driver's name fuels allegations of the police siding with the affluent instead of pursuing justice for the deadThe Kerala Police have come under the scanner since the death of three youngsters who were run over by a Mini Cooper car that crashed into their scooter from behind in the early hours of October 11. Though the 19-year-old Suhail Sajeev, who was allegedly driving the car heavily drunk, has been arrested along with three companions, the police have faced allegations of compromising the investigation due to the affluent background of the accused, who belongs to an NRI family that owns a boutique chain in Dubai and Sharjah.The accident on Nedumbassery airport road in Kochi killed 21-year-old Devika from Wayanad, 22-year-old Gopika from Palakkad and 21-year-old Ijaz from Kodagu. According to Salim, an eyewitness to the tragic event, locals stopped the teenage driver and his companions in the car—all of whom were allegedly drunk—from fleeing the accident spot.“I rushed to the spot after the speeding car rammed the scooter,” says Salim. “Ambulance services and the police were informed. When the boys tried to escape, we confronted them. Suhail, who was driving, boasted that his father was very influential and would handle the case.”According to K.S. Sudharshan, Ernakulam Rural superintendent of police, the others arrested with Suhail—Joel, Ninav Palaparambil and Ameer—are natives of Alappuzha district. “All four are 19 years old. They have been charged under Section 105 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” Sudharshan told the media. Aluva deputy superintendent of police Baiju Poulose is heading the investigation. Later, the police produced Suhail and the three co-accused at the magistrate’s court in Aluva. They were sent to the Borstal school, which houses offenders between 18 and 21 years of age, instead of a central jail as per section 324 of the Jail Manual.Police and excise investigation revealed later that Suhail and the co-accused hopped three bars in Ernakulam district on a boozing spree from Saturday noon to midnight. The excise department slapped cases on the bars for serving liquor to persons aged under 23—a minor offence that is punished with a fine. The police, however, chose to ignore the alcohol in Suhail’s system as factoring it in would have sent him to judicial custody instead of the Borstal school, which is only for those accused of minor offences.In fact, Suhail’s name does not even figure in the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Nedumbassery police after his arrest. Only the vehicle registration number—KL07 CR1001—is mentioned. The vehicle is registered in his father’s name. The omission could likely benefit Suhail in the trial.Demanding justice for the dead, their bereaved parents alleged that the police were making every effort to protect the accused. Reacting to the parents’ allegation, Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala assured the media that he would not allow anyone to tamper with the case. “No extra-judicial intervention will be allowed. Justice will be done. The police will investigate the case and charge the accused in accordance with the law,” Chennithala said. Making no mention of any lapses by the police, he added that the accused were not from the Haripad assembly constituency that he represented.“In my professional experience, whenever a crime was registered, I always found the police yielding to pressure from the rich to save the accused,” says T.K. Shajahan, a senior lawyer in the High Court of Kerala. “They allow lapses in the FIR to give the rich accused some leeway when the victims are poor. In fact, the law never takes its own course. It does so only when the police do the investigation in a satisfactory manner. Otherwise, the law takes the course of denying justice.”Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends