Amid growing concern over the efficacy of legal action against moral policing attempts, the Mukkom police probing a case in which a brother and a sister were manhandled by miscreants have failed to achieve any breakthrough even eight days after the incident.
The inquiry has failed to make progress as the suspected youth were not using mobile phones. “As their mobile phones were found switched off, we were finding it hard to trace their locations. The relatives of the accused too are clueless,” a police officer at the Mukkom station said. He said the police had done everything possible on their part to intensify the search.
Since the start of the police inquiry, there have been allegations that some political leaders from the area were trying to scuttle the case and save the accused. Lending credence to the charges is the recent transfer of the Station House Officer of the Mukkom police station who was heading the inquiry. His transfer order came just days after he was about to pursue a lead he had received from the family members of the accused during an interrogation.
However, the new Station House Officer, who took charge Wednesday last, clarified that the inquiry was moving in the right direction. “Though the accused are currently absconding, they cannot escape legal action,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources said the accused had moved the District and Sessions Court for anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in the case. “The bail applications are likely to be considered by the court on Monday,” the sources said.
It was on February 21 that the brother-sister duo were attacked by a two-member armed gang at Anayamkunnu following a suspicion that they were lovers. They were admitted to a private medical college hospital at Mukkom following the incident.
