Kottayam: Thirty-eight police vehicles under the control of the Kanjirappally DySP were deployed on roads in and around Kottayam town as personnel in them checked vehicles on Sunday night as part of providing security to the chief minister even as Kevin Joseph was kidnapped by a gang from SH Mount locality near here in the wee hours of Monday.
Local people had informed the Gandhinagar police station at 3 am, but an ASI present there, Sunnymon, tried to contact the SI in vain. The ASI could have informed the police wireless centre, but he did not do that. Such lapses foiled any chance of tracing the vehicle in which Kevin was kidnapped.
Those in charge at the station had conveyed to top officials that the abductors themselves would return Kevin. The police did not try to trace him though his return was getting delayed.
When Kevin's cousin Aneesh called the police station at 05.35 am, he was told that a case would be filed after he returned and a statement was recorded.
It is alleged the search for Kevin got delayed because of the chief minister's visit.
Inspector general Vijay Sakhare interrogated cops at the Gandhinagar station on Tuesday. A possible police help to the accused is also being probed.
Calls made by the police and records at the station are being examined.
The police are also probing charges that a patrol vehicle that reportedly apprehended the killer gang had taken money from them.
Kevin was abducted on Sunday and killed by a gang of criminals allegedly engaged by his fiancee Neenu's family. His body was found in a river in Kollam district Monday. Neenu's brother Sanu Chacko, main accused, was arrested by the police from Kannur on Tuesday.
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