Sunil Kumar Surendran aka Pulsar Suni was a man on the move, literally.
For the prime accused in the sexual assault case of actor, the gameplan was clear. Keep on moving all the while and never stay long enough at any place for the police to track him down.
“We traced Suni and Vijesh’s movements from Ernakulam to Ambalappuzha, Kayamkulam and then to Palakkad and Coimbatore. He never stayed long at any of these locations and never used a phone, keeping the police only two steps behind him’’, said a senior officer, member of the Special Investigation team.
Unable to trace his exact location at any point of time during the last six days, the police despatched various teams to places across the State and even outside. But Suni kept moving around, avoiding lodges or friends’ residence for an overnight stay.
But the police expected him not to go very far and surrender in a few day’s time. Having reached Coimbatore with just over ₹10,000, he had less than ₹1,500 left with him at the time of arresting. The money would’ve eventually ran out hence his surrender was almost imminent,” the official added.
The manner in which he resurfaced in the public, however, has left the police puzzled. “Even while assuming that Suni had received the help of his lawyers, this shocker was not possible without some other external help,’’ sources said.
Meanwhile, the way which the police arrested him also invited criticism from different quarters. Legal experts, on the other hand, maintain that there is no legal impediment on the police act as the court was not in session.
According to them, Section 41 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) stipulates that any police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant, arrest any person in the presence of a police officer for a cognizable offence or against whom a reasonable complaint has been made.
“A person can surrender at the judge’s chamber or at the courtroom. But as long as the judge was not present in the room, the police could take him into custody as per Section 41 of the CrPC,” said Aaromalunni, the public prosecutor.
