Thiruvananthapuram: Police team probing the death of journalist S V Pradeep tracked down the truck that caused the accident and also took the driver into custody on Tuesday.
Police identified the accused as Joy, 60, of Vettikonam near Vazhayila under Peroorkada police station limits. The seized truck was examined and samples were collected by forensic officials.
According to police, Joy was transporting M sand from Vattiyoorkavu to Vellayani when the accident occurred. The vehicle was traced by collecting surveillance camera visuals near the accident spot at Karakkamandapam Junction and nearby locations. Police spotted the vehicle again in the visuals captured by two surveillance cameras of shops at Vellayani Junction. They could note down the registration number from one of the visuals and thus, the owner of the vehicle, who resides at Peroorkada was traced by Tuesday morning. From the owner, it was learned that the truck was already out on another trip and it was intercepted at Eanchakkal and confiscated.
“The driver claimed that he was someone with 35 years of work experience and had never caused any accident so far. He also claimed that he was not aware of the collision,” said Fort assistant commissioner R Prathapan. The AC dismissed the driver’s claim citing that the rear tyre of the mini lorry had run over Pradeep’s head and it was impossible not to feel its impact.
Even after the accident, Joy finished the trip, took the load of M Sand to its destination and returned home via Thrikkannapuram, avoiding the highway.
The Fort AC added that at present police have registered the case as a murder, invoking Section 302 of IPC based on Pradeep’s mother’s statement.
“However, the section for murder may be replaced by the section for culpable homicide by negligence as our investigation did not find any evidence that suggested the accident to be a pre-meditated one,” Prathapan said.
Besides this, sections 134(a) and (b) of Motor Vehicles Act for allegedly speeding away without stopping to help the accident victim will also be invoked against the accused, the AC said.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner of police (law and order) Divya V Gopinath said police will still seriously look into the conspiracy angle raised by his family as well as various political party leaderships as Pradeep himself had invited the displeasure of many through his many news items.
“From the surveillance camera visuals, it appears that the accident occurred when Pradeep strayed dangerously close to the fast lane of the road while attempting to overtake a two-wheeler which incidentally was overtaking another vehicle,” the DCP said.