Kannur: The police have suspended Lithesh, the civil police officer involved in a hit-and-run case in Kannur. A woman named B Beena died after being rammed by the car driven by Lithesh at Echoor Kamalpeedika in Kannur on Thursday. She was walking by the side of the road when she was hit by a car from behind. CCTV visuals showed she was thrown off the ground under the impact and she fell face down a few feet away.
Lithesh was subjected to a breathalyzer test which came out negative. His blood samples have been sent to the lab for further confirmation.
"We suspended Lithesh from the service on Wednesday itself. The investigation in the case is continuing and a department-level inquiry has also been initiated in the matter. The police personnel himself informed the police about the accident. The blood sample has been sent to the lab for further inspection and the result taken by the alcohol breath analyser is negative,'' said Siby Tom, ACP Kannur.
Lithesh has been slapped with sections 281 and 106 (1) of BNS dealing with rash and negligent driving and causing death due to rash and negligent driving. It is reportedly the first accident case in Kerala registered under the sections of BNS in which a police personnel was involved. Lithesh is employed as a civil police officer at Kannur Town Police Station. He was on his way to the station when the accident happened.
Chandran Kanicheri, Kerala Cooperative Employees Front, in which Beena was a member, Kannur Taluk President said it was evident from the visual that the driver was not in control of the vehicle."The accident was caused by the negligence of the cop driving the car. Beena was walking at a distance from the road and it was careless driving which caused her death. Beena was working as a collection agent at the Munderi Vanitha Sahakarana Sangham and she used to deposit the amount on the next day. Beena came to the bank on Wednesday at around 10 am to deposit the amount and returned to collect the amount after that. She was on her way to collect the money from various places when the accident occurred,'' he said.