In a twist to the miraculous escape of a toddler after she fell down from the lap of her mother in a moving jeep at Rajamala forest check post on September 8, the closed-circuit television visual (CCTV) has now confirmed that it was not the forest department officials, but an autorickshaw driver who saved the child.
In an edited version of the CCTV visual, the child was shown as rescued by the forest department officials on duty at the check post.
The child was handed over to the parents with much fanfare by the Munnar Wildlife Warden. However, a police case filed to find any lapses on the part of the parents led to the unravelling of the actual story of the autorickshaw driver Kanakaraj, 60, rescuing the child while he was passing through the check-post.
After the full CCTV visuals were handed over to the police, it was revealed that Kanakaraj saved the child and handed it over to the check-post officials.
Kanakaraj, a resident of Nayamakkad estate in the KDHP plantations in Munnar, had also given a statement to the Munnar police that he had saved the child from the road.
Ghost
The forest watchers, residents of Edamalakkudy tribal grama panchayat, posted at the check-post thought the toddler was a ‘ghost’. They were afraid to approach the child, said sources.
But the CCTV visuals clearly showed Kanakaraj taking the child from the road and handing over to the forest officials.
“The autorickshaw driver Kanakarj has given a statement that he had rescued the child from the road. We have started the probe on the issue,” said a senior police official at the Munnar station.
