Nearly three weeks after the death of a motorcyclist on the national highway at Athani, which sparked off a raging controversy over the pitiable state of roads in the district, the Nedumbassery police on Tuesday took into custody a truck driver who had run over the victim.
Hashim, 52, of North Paravur, was run over by the truck driven by Hanumanthappa, 28, of Karnataka after the former’s motorcycle reportedly hit a pothole following which he lost control of the vehicle and was thrown on the road on the night of August 5.
Hanumanthappa had sped off following the incident. He was picked up from Karnataka, and the truck was also taken into custody.
The police could not track down the truck initially, since there were no CCTV cameras in the area. They had booked a case under IPC Section 304A (causing death by negligence) and had since then launched a probe.
The police said the truck, which is registered in Karnataka, was carrying chemicals to Bengaluru. They had reportedly tracked down the accused and the vehicle after checking the visuals from over 350 CCTV cameras along the route. The team also collected details of over 500 vehicle-owners as part of the investigation.
The police are yet to record his arrest. They are grilling him on how the accident occurred and why he did not stop the vehicle.
District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vivek Kumar had constituted a team to probe the incident. The team comprised Aluva Deputy Superintendent of Police P.K. Sivankutty, Nedumbassery Inspector Sony Mathai, Sub Inspectors Anish K. Das and Varghese, Assistant Sub Inspector Abhilash, and civil police officers Rony Augustine, K.R. Renni, and N.J. Jismon made the arrest.
