Kochi: The probe into the November 1 midnight car crash here that killed two noted fashion models and their friend is now focussed on a few guests they likely met at a premier Fort Kochi hotel a little while before the accident.
Saiju Thankachan, the driver of the Audi car which chased the ill-fated car carrying the models — Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan — has links with the drug trafficking mafia operating in Kochi.
According to police, he is a drug peddler operating in Kochi city and he operates for the mafia that is engaged in trafficking chemical drugs to Kochi from Bengaluru.
An Intelligence report was received by the State Director General of Police (DGP) in May 2021 that chemical drugs used to change hands at No 18 Hotel at Fort Kochi where the models had partied hours before their last trip.
Saiju's pictures were also attached with the Intelligence report. But no follow-up action was taken on the basis of the Intelligence report ostensibly due to the personal proximity of hotel owner Roy J Vayalat with a few IPS officers.
Crime Branch to probe
Meanwhile, the investigation into the deaths has been handed over to the Crime Branch as the local police could not make much headway in the investigation even 18 days after the incident.
Crime Branch Assistant Commissioner of Police (AP) Biji George will head the inquiry team.
Afterparties at No 18 hotel
Drugs are not allowed in night parties in Kochi. So, to overcome this hurdle, the practice in many city hotels was that after night parties, the interested partied used to disperse into small groups and meet at some low-profile places. In these afterparties, drugs are supplied for customers.
The peculiarity of No 18 hotel was that afterparties were held in the hotel itself after night parties. The youths were attracted in large numbers to the so-called "Club 18" parties during the COVID-19 lockdown period. The special attraction was the afterparties.
Saiju blocked models, offered drugs
The police have reportedly received information that on the midnight prior to the accident, the driver of the Audi car Saiju had invited Miss Kerala models to an afterparty which was exclusively held for a handful of VIPs at No 18 hotel.
But Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan left the hotel along with her friends by ignoring the invitation. Saiju, who got provoked by the act of models, chased them in another car.
The driver of the ill-fated car Abdul Rahman gave a statement that Saiju, who blocked the car of models somewhere between Kundanoor and Vyttila junctions, reportedly invited them to his house by offering them costly drugs.
Ancy Kabeer and Anjana Shajan were heading to Thrissur after a late-night party at the No 18 Hotel at Fort Kochi when their car crashed into the median after hitting a two-wheeler at Chakkaraparambu on the Vyttila-Edappally stretch of the Ernakulam Bypass early on November 1. While the models were killed instantly, their friend Mohammad Ashiq died a few days later.
