Thrissur: A tipper lorry that was involved in smashing 104 LED lights and closed circuit security cameras in the Kuthiran tunnel has been seized by the police hours after the incident. The driver, Jinesh (38), has been arrested.
The police suspect that the driver had deliberately raised the cargo bed before entering the tunnel and drove at a high speed. The LED bulbs fixed on the roof panel were destroyed as the top part of the raised portion of the vehicle struck the fixtures. The CCTV cameras and sensors at the entrance of the tunnel too were broken.
The loss is estimated to be around Rs 10 lakh.
The incident took place at 8:50pm on Thursday on tunnel No 1 towards the Thrissur direction. (The second tunnel was opened for traffic on the same day.) The tipper truck came from the Palakkad side. The driver lowered the cargo bed only after covering 90 meters in the tunnel. Later the vehicle sped towards Thrissur .
The driver heard the sound of LED bulbs crashing and falling on the road, but he didn't stop the vehicle.
The traffic through the tunnel was restored only after removing the damaged LED lights and lighting up the remaining bulbs.
The authorities said that it would take months to restore the fixtures and replace the bulbs. The lights and roof panels are not readily and easily available in the market.
These can be replaced only after the construction company places the order with the manufacturers and procures them.
Prompt response from control room
A 24/7 control room is functioning near each tunnel. Staff monitor the CCTV camera footage.
The control room staff noticed that the lights went off in Tunnel No 1 as the tipper lorry wrecked the bulbs. They also saw the lorry speeding away after the mess.
Immediately, they informed the authorities of the KMC Constructions Ltd which has the contract to maintain the tunnels. The KMC officials rang up the police and briefed them about the incident.
How was the lorry caught?
The phrase “Gift of God" written on the tipper lorry helped the police in identifying and tracing it.
While examining the CCTV camera footage the investigating officials found these three words written in front of the lorry. This lead was enough to locate it.
With the tunnel accident becoming headlines on TV news channels, the phones of higher-ups in the police started ringing. Direction came from the top to intercept the lorry immediately. A police team led by Peechi inspector S Shukoor began the probe to locate the lorry. First they saw the control room CCTV camera footage. However, the footage was not clear. Even the number plate of the vehicle could not be identified in the footage. There was just a visual of lorry speeding away through the tunnel, causing destruction.
The Cyber Cell staff examined the CCTV footage minutely. They tried to see each portion of the lorry by zooming the visuals. They understood that something was written on the front portion of the lorry in English. It took some time for the police to read the three words: “Gift of God.”
The police summoned the owners of all vehicles which are carrying out works related to national highway development on contract. The cops enquired as to who owned the vehicle on which “Gift of God “ is written. It was found that the vehicle was owned by Saji of Irumpupalam in Idukki district.
After learning about the incident, the owner had not operated the vehicle. However, when CCTV camera footage was being examined to locate the lorry, Saji was present there.
Finally, the lorry was traced and taken into custody. Subsequently, Peechi police registered a case against driver Jinesh for reckless driving.
The police have asked the KMC authorities to scale up the quality of cameras installed in the tunnel.
