Metro workers hit-and-run case: Driver arrested near Kumbalam

KOCHI: The 24-hour hunt to track down the truck which mowed down three Metro contract workers near the Muttam yard on Thursday night ended with the police arresting the driver of the vehicle late on Friday. 

Ramsundar, 27, of Nagur district in Rajasthan, who fled the scene after hitting four workers, was tracked down with the help of CCTV cameras installed at the Paliyekkara toll plaza. Aluva Traffic Police SI Mohammed Basheer said the evidence collected from the accident spot and the CCTV footages from the toll plaza helped them nab the driver of the Gujarat-registered chemical tanker.

“On examining the accident spot, we got an ‘iron ball’ and a plastic garland which fell from the vehicle. Since the accident took place around midnight, we assumed the vehicle might have passed the Paliyekkara toll plaza between 10 and 11 pm as it normally takes around one to one-and-a-half hours for a vehicle to reach the accident spot from the toll plaza. We then checked the CCTV footages at toll plaza and identified the truck which had the same garland and ‘iron ball’ fitted in front of the vehicle. 

“Immediately, we sent messages to all toll plazas and police stations to trace the vehicle with the registration number GJ-01-DZ-0587,” said Basheer. The police efforts to track down the rogue vehicle finally succeeded on Friday night when they received a tip-off from staffers at the Kumbalam toll plaza that a tanker fitting the description of the one involved in the Muttom mishap was being denied passage by the boom barrier installed there after its registration number was entered in the official computer.

As the police had flashed the truck’s registration number, which was gleaned from the CCTV footage at the Paliyekkara toll, the boom barrier had barred its passage.“The truck driver was returning after offloading the chemical at Cherthala. On the receiving the information, we rushed to the spot and questioned the driver of the truck. Though he refused to own up to the crime inititally, he later admitted to it. He told the police he fell asleep and it was out of fear that he didn’t stop the vehicle,” the officer said.

The seized vehicle is parked at the Kalamassery AR camp. “We have charged section 304 and 308 of IPC against the driver. He was also produced before the court,” the police said. While Bablu Mashis, 42, Umesh, 23, and Soorya Kanth, 32 - all hailing from Sonebhadra district in Uttar Pradesh - died in the accident, Indra Dev, 22, suffered serious head injuries.