The Judicial First Class Magistrate, Perumbavoor, on Thursday extended the remand period of Ameerul Islam, key accused in the murder of a Dalit law student, till July 13.
Producing him before the court on completion of his 10-day custody period, the police, for the first time after his arrest on June 16, revealed the face of the accused in the public. A large media contingent and members of the general public were present on the court premises to catch a glimpse of the accused. During the hearing, the judge asked the accused whether he had any complaints, to which he replied in the negative. Following this, the court accepted the remand report and sent him to the Ernakulam District Jail.
A remand report by the Special Investigation Team stated that Ameerul had been interrogated in detail and his statements were recorded with the assistance of Dr. P.V. Indu, assistant professor with Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, and Amita Shukla and Hema V. Acharya from the Directorate of Forensic Sciences in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
Dental and foot casts
The police, with the assistance of Dr. Anil Kumar and Dr. Marut Patel from Kottayam Medical College Hospital, have prepared a dental cast of the accused for a scientific analysis of the bite marks on the victim’s body. The foot cast of the accused have also been prepared for conducting a comparison with a pair of footwear recovered from the premises of Jisha’s house.
The injury on the hand of the accused was examined by experts from Kottayam Medical College Hospital while other injuries on his body were examined by doctors with Ernakulam General Hospital.
Special cell
The police have requested the court to allot a special cell for Ameerul in the prison considering chances of him being assaulted by other inmates. Meanwhile, the accused’s counsel has approached the court seeking its permission to interact with Ameerul in jail. The court is slated to consider the petition on Friday.
Dress yet to be traced
Officials said the police on Friday would move a petition seeking further custody of Ameerul so as to collect solid leads on the lungi and the shirt which he had worn at the time of murder.
Initially, he told the police that the dress had been kept at his room at Singadivakkam in Kancheepuram but later changed the location to the lodge at Vaidyasalappady, near Perumbavoor. In a third statement, Ameerul said that the dress was abandoned on the way to Aluva railway station after committing the crime.
