Nedumbassery crash: Keralam court denies bail to all four accused

Suhail Sajeev being taken for evidence collection. (File photo) | Photo Credit: The Hindu The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Angamaly, on Saturday (October 17, 2026) rejected the bail applications of all four accused in the case related to the Nedumbassery car crash on October 11 that claimed three lives.The Nedumbassery police had arrested Suhail Sajeev, 19, who allegedly drove the car under the influence of alcohol, and three co-passengers, Ninav, 19; Ameer, 20; and Joel, 20.Both the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments, in what turned out to be a rather heated hearing, on Friday, following which Judge Samyuktha M.K. reserved the verdict for Saturday. The accused are likely to move the district court in appeal.What the defence saidThe defence had challenged the invocation of the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, arguing that it was merely a case of rash and negligent driving. The police, the defence alleged, had illegally paraded the accused before the media and rendered a fair and unbiased investigation impossible by reaching pre-determined conclusions. The decision to charge the other accused with abetment was also challenged.The defence counsel’s plea for leniency, citing the young age of the accused and the absence of criminal antecedents, was countered by the prosecution, which argued that the three victims who lost their lives were also equally young and had dreams and aspirations of their own. The defence also argued that the victims were riding triple on a two-wheeler in violation of traffic rules.The prosecution opposed Suhail’s bail on the ground that, given the affluent and influential background of his family, he could tamper with evidence, influence witnesses or abscond. In its remand report, the Ernakulam Rural police had raised suspicions over whether Suhail was under the influence of narcotic substances and whether the car was involved in illegal racing at the time of the crash.The case had hogged considerable media attention and was hotly debated even on the floor of the Kerala Assembly. The Opposition Left Democratic Front (LDF) accused the police of delaying the registration of the FIR and omitting both the name of the key accused and the allegations that he was heavily drunk at the time of the crash. Allegations of political interference by Congress leaders were also raised by the Opposition.Allegations dismissedHowever, the government dismissed all the allegations as baseless and handed over the investigation to Aluva DySP Baiju Paulose. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala also announced that R. Nishanthini, IGP, South Zone, would hear the complaints and concerns of the victims’ families.Both the ruling and Opposition fronts unequivocally criticised the communal remarks made in connection with the accident . Published - October 17, 2026 04:31 pm IST