A 51-year-old man from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala was killed when the car he travelled in, along with a relative and four police personnel attached Kochi City Police, rammed a median of NH-544 at Thekkalur near Avinashi here early on Thursday.

The deceased, G. Harinarayanan of Powdikonam, and his relative, Vinu Venugopal from Kadakkarappally in Alappuzha, were accompanying the policemen to Hyderabad to trace a 21-year-old girl from their family who went missing.

Vinayagan, Assistant Sub-Inspector from Thrikkakkara police station, senior civil police officers Dinil from Hill Palace police station, Anil Kumar from Maradu police station and Rajesh L.B. from Info Park police station were in the private vehicle.

The Hill Palace police in Kochi had registered a case after the girl went missing and formed a special team to locate her. The team, with the girl's relatives, left Kochi around 1.30 a.m.

According to Avinashi police, Harinarayanan died on the spot. The injured were taken to a private hospital in Coimbatore. ASI Vinayagan’s condition was said to be critical.

Harinarayanan’s body was shifted to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for post-mortem.

The police were yet to ascertain who was at the wheel at the time of the accident.