A 15-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by P.P. Shams, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thrikkakara, has been formed to probe the firing incident at Panampilly Nagar in the city.
The police were fully seized of the gravity of the incident and a full fledged investigation was under way, said J. Himendranath, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kochi City.
Though the police had on Monday collected the statement of Leena Maria Paul, the actor-businesswoman whose beauty parlour in the building was allegedly targeted by the two motorcycle-bound persons on Saturday afternoon, it has not provided the police with any vital breakthrough, it is learnt.
According to sources, since November, Ms. Paul had been receiving numerous threatening phone calls from someone claiming to be a Mumbai-based underworld don, whose name was left behind by the unidentified persons, demanding ₹25 crore to spare her life.
The police have got in touch with their counterparts in Mumbai to verify whether the plot is the handiwork of some contract gangs there.
Ms. Paul reportedly told the police that she was initially reluctant to lodge a complaint as she was not sure whether the threat was genuine and did not want to draw unnecessary attention to herself as she had been accused of financial fraud in the past.
Cyber cell
Since the threatening calls were made via the Internet, the police have roped in the service of the cyber cell to trace the origin of the calls and the IP address. Ms. Paul is learnt to have handed over to the police an audio clip containing the conversation she had with the caller.
The police have received visuals of the motorcycle-bound persons from some CCTVs in the city though they are yet to be identified. The police are also visiting automobile showrooms dealing in the brand of motorcycle they had used and collecting details of recent sales of dark-coloured bikes. Armoury shops are also being covered in an effort to trace the origin of the firearm used in the incident.
