Kochi: Goon ‘Pulsar’ Suni a.k.a. Sunil, accused of abduction and rape of a mainstream south Indian actress, and co-accused Vijeesh, were arrested by the police in a lunch-hour drama as the two, dressed as lawyers, jumped the court complex wall and sneaked into the additional chief judicial magistrate court in the city on Thursday. Both the accused were whisked away by the cops from the central police station and subjected to interrogation at the Police Club at Aluva.
ADGP (south zone) B. Sandhaya led the senior police officers in questioning the duo, especially about their motive behind the crime, whether they had been hired and their whereabouts the past six days after the night of crime last Friday. ACJM Siju Sheikh, who heard a petition filed by counsel for the accused, directed the police to record their arrest, hand them over to the investigating officer concerned and produce the duo in the court within 24 hours of the arrest. The duo, along with five others who have already been arrested, have been charged for various crimes including rape, abduction and wrongful confinement of the actor on February 17.
According to sources, Suni admitted that he had plotted for nearly a month to trap a convenient actor and blackmail her for extorting a huge sum. This contradicts reports that he was a hireling, committing the crime at the behest of someone nursing a grudge against the actor. The courtroom drama started during the lunchbreak when the magistrate had retired to the chamber. The police claimed they had the accused in their cross-hairs but reports say they rode a Pulsar bike all the way from Coimbatore, some 190 km away, dodged the police and landed in the court.
The two came to the court on a bike with helmets through main gate of Siva Temple and left the bike before scaling the compound wall to reach the court of the ACJM. Nearly 12 advocates accompanied the culprits. Soon after entering the premise the accused rushed to the court room and after reaching there the two took off the jackets, bags and helmets and stood close to the witness box. It was the lawyers who recognised the duo near the witness box. Soon plainclothesmen confirmed the identities and alerted the central police.
As the police moved in the two resisted the attempt to take them into custody. In the melee Sunil fell down on the floor and the police literally dragged him through steps to the vehicle parked outside. The two were dragged out after a scuffle around 1.10 PM. Shouts and counter-shouts were heard as the burly cops had a tussle with lawyers, who protested against the unprecedented action on the part of the police in picking up suspects who had reached the court to surrender.
Their carefully crafted plot failed as the magistrate went for lunch adjourning the court minutes before they reached the spot. The two appeared in court wearing black trousers and white shirts usually worn by advocates as a camouflage to hoodwink the cops and the people accompanied by their advocates. Although the police team, led by central circle inspector A. Ananthlal, took the two into custody they remained clueless about how the two managed to reach the court premises despite the vigil. Counsel for Sunil later submitted a petition to the ACJM alleging police highhandedness in taking his clients from court premises while came to surrender. ACJM Siju Sheikh, who heard the petition, ordered Ernakulam Central police to hand over the accused to the investigation officer of the case.
