Kochi: Retrieving the visuals of CCTV surveillance cameras installed at a Fort Kochi hotel has become critical for the probe into the November 1 high-speed car crash that killed former Miss Kerala, Miss Kerala runner-up and their friend.
The deceased had attended a DJ party in the hotel. Investigators suspect that the young women and their two friends were trying to escape after some unpleasant incidents, like a heated argument or a clash, in the hotel when the crash occurred.
Police have information that the hotel employees had destroyed the CCTV visuals from the hall that hosted the party and parking area, as directed by the hotel owner. Other visuals have been found intact.
It has been suspected that the women, Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan, and their friends, left the hotel following the incident.
Police have found that two cars had followed the friends from Fort Kochi to Chakkaraparambu, where the accident occurred. Investigators, who questioned one of the men in the cars, Saiju Thankachan, felt that he had been hiding some facts.
It has also been suspected that the hotel owner, too, had followed the ill-fated car. Police are yet to question the influential hotelier. Though a notice was issued summoning him to present himself before the police for questioning, his whereabouts are not known.
Police could extract only a little information from Abdul Rahman, who drove the car involved in the accident. Police are trying to get him in custody for further questioning. He is currently in judicial remand.
Ansi Kabeer, 25, and Anjana Shajan, 26, were killed instantly, while their friend Muhammed Ashiq, 25, succumbed to injuries a few days later. The accident occurred when the speeding car rammed into the median on the Vyttila-Edappally stretch of the bypass after hitting a motorcycle.
Kabeer of Thiruvananthapuram, and Shajan, hailing from Thrissur, were the winner and runner-up, respectively, of the Miss Kerala pageant in 2019.
