Cheranalloor car crash: IPS officer denies intervening in probe, claims transfer has nothing to do with case
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Inspector General of Police Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar, who was recently removed from the post of District Police Chief (Kochi City), has denied interfering in the investigation into the fatal car crash at Cheranalloor. Addressing media in Kochi on Friday, the IPS officer claimed that his transfer had nothing to do with the case.
He said the reports that the judge of a district court, who is the father of the 17-year-old boy who allegedly drove the luxury car involved in the incident, had called him were baseless.
Mr. Mahesh Kumar said he wanted to explain his version to the public through the media as he “may not get another platform.”
“Nobody from outside has spoken to me regarding the case. The judge has never spoken to me. I’m not somebody who would yield to illegal requests,” he said.
On his transfer, reportedly due to the lapses in the probe into the case, he said “transfer is part of a government officer’s life.” He claimed that the investigation in the Cheranalloor case has been going on only based on evidences since the initial stage.
Mr. Mahesh Kumar was removed from the post on Wednesday, a day after the government suspended four police officers attached to the Cheranalloor police station based on a report submitted by ADGP P. Vijayan.
The action against the police was initiated as Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala was reportedly unhappy with the manner in which the City Police handled the case, particularly the invocation of relatively minor charges against the teenage accused initially. He had also conceded on the floor of the State Assembly the lapses on the part of the police in handling the case.
Jayabalakrishnan, 55, of Chittur, was killed in the accident which took place on Container Road in the early hours of Sunday after the luxury car rammed his scooter from behind. Though the minor boy was let off on station bail initially, the police later charged him with culpable homicide and also booked his father under relevant clauses of the Motor Vehicles Act following protests by the victim’s family.
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