District Police Chief promises proper probe into bike accident

District Police Chief (Kochi City) Putta Vimaladitya on Sunday (December 28) promised a proper investigation into the incident in which a plainclothes police officer (CPO) and a bike rider were injured in an accident during night patrol in the early hours of December 26.

The officer made this statement while facing allegations that the police left the injured teenager on the road while taking the unconscious officer to hospital.

CPO Bijumon of Kannamaly police station and Padinjareveli Anil, who was riding a bike, were injured in the accident at Chellanam. The incident came to light when Mr. Anil’s friend Rahul Sabu, who was sitting in the back, claimed that the accident took place when Mr. Bijumon tried to pull them off the moving bike while they were slowing down the vehicle.

It was also alleged that Mr. Bijumon refused to take Mr. Anil to the hospital. The police denied the claim and made a statement saying that drivers under the influence of alcohol hit the CPO after the police signaled them to stop the speeding vehicle. The statement stated that the young man refused to go to the hospital with the police.

Police released CCTV footage on Sunday to support their claims. While Mr. Sabu reportedly took his friend to the hospital on the damaged bike after strapping it to his body to prevent him from falling, this is not shown in the CCTV footage of the Rural Health Training Center at Chettikadu in Alappuzha, where the youth first sought treatment.

Police also released the hospital’s accident log; Here, the youth cited ‘the two-wheeler falling while avoiding hitting a stray dog’ as the reason for Mr. Anil’s injury. The recording also noted the ‘smell of alcohol’ coming from the patient. The young people were arrested for seriously injuring a public official on duty and disobeying legal instructions.

Mr. Vimaladitya said that the investigation into the allegations against the youths is on and the complaint lodged by the bikers with the Alappuzha District Police Chief against the Kannamaly police station personnel has been forwarded to him. “The necessary investigation will be carried out regarding the allegations,” he said.