The City police have alleged attempts being made to derail the ongoing investigation into the murder of the Latvian woman near Kovalam. The charge has been made in the backdrop of the victim’s partner purportedly picking holes in the probe.
Two persons booked
Senior police officials said there had been attempts to influence and even threaten witnesses. Two Thiruvallam natives, Vasanthasenan and Ajeesh, were booked for alleged attempts to threaten a key witness and his relatives.
“With the witness refusing to budge from his position, the accused duo had turned their ire on his relatives in a bid to intimidate him. Similar attempts were being made to influence others who were involved in the case or related to the victim,” an officer said.
The police have booked the duo under Sections 448 (house-trespass), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 214 (offering gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening offender) of the Indian Penal Code. They were also mulling invoking the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for attempts to threaten the witness, sources said.