Foul play alleged in death of panchayat member, son in Perambra

Protest is mounting in and around Perambra over the death of a local body member and his son hailing from Panthirikkara in an accident involving a tipper lorry last Sunday.

Though the police have ruled out any suspicion behind the accident in which the panchayat member and his son were found dead, the Changaroth panchayat authorities and the family members of the dead do not believe the chance of an “odd accident” on the route and they have approached the rural police higher-ups with a demand to reinvestigate the case on the basis of some fresh evidence.

As per the information passed by local people to the police, K.P. Mohammed, who was also the chairman of the panchayat’s standing committee on development, was one of the targets of the illegal sand traders in the region. Also, he was reportedly part of the local campaigns to net the accused persons in the recently surfaced Panthirikkara sex scandal in which minor girls were sexually abused.

“The main reason for the suspicion was that the lorry involved in the accident sped away from the spot and it was detected very late. We have requested the District Superintendent of Police (Vadakara) to conduct a detailed inquiry into the accident to bring to light the truth,” said K. Sadanandan, president of Changaroth grama panchayat. Also, the panchayat passed a resolution pointing out “obscurity” in the accident on the following day and called for a fair inquiry.

Family members of Mohammed said he had earlier survived three attacks by the sand mafia on various occasions. The last one in the series was nearly one-and-a-half months ago when a group of unidentified men barged into his house at midnight and tried to harm him, they said

K.P. Ibrahim, elder brother of the victim, said the driver who was arrested in connection with the accident had a role in the earlier threats to Mohammed for his tough stance against illegal sand-mining. “The incident was nearly five month ago,” said, Mr. Ibrahim.

Perambra Circle Inspector V.V. Latheesh who investigated the case stood firmly by the stance of the police that “it was an accident death”. Babeesh, who was arrested in connection with the case, was not skilled enough to drive heavy vehicles and that was the main reason for the accident, he claimed.