No trace of person who left pistol, five bullets in shopping cart at LuLu Mall

KOCHI: The police are yet to make a breakthrough in identifying the person who discarded a pistol and five bullets in a shopping trolley at LuLu Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the state. According to the officers, the footage of four persons from CCTV cameras at the mall is being analysed thoroughly. 

Though an aged person had been taken into custody on Saturday evening after scanning the footage, he was let off subsequently after a detailed verification of the footage found that he did not have any links with the incident.Preliminary analysis by ballistic experts found that the firearm is a Chinese-made model of 9mm calibre Russian pistol Norinco Tokarev. 

“The pistol is unusable. We are trying to get certain details with the help of the weapon’s serial number. If it belongs to a person, who has a valid firearms licence, then we will be able to track down the person ,” said an officer.Police have handed over the footage to the digital image enhancing team in cyber forensic wing to get a clearer image of the person, who is seen near the trolley in which the pistol and bullets were found.

It was around noon on Saturday that mall staff noticed a package in one of the trolleys at entrance number one of the mall. On checking, they found a cloth bag containing a pistol and bullets. A note, on which names of social and religious leaders were found written in a distorted manner,  was also found in the bag.