Kochi: Amid public outrage, the police on Monday acted tough in the Vytilla bashing incident.
The cops seized the Suresh Kallada Travels bus and arrested four employees, Jithin of Kodakara in Thrissur, Jayesh of Pallikkal in Thiruvananthapuram, bus driver Anwar and Vytilla office staffer Rajesh. “We’re collecting details of others involved in the attack by questioning the company officials and checking CCTV visuals from the crime spot. More arrests will follow, and additional charges lodged against them once we take the statement of other two who were also assaulted,” Maradu sub-inspector Baiju P. Babu told reporters.
They may face charges of robbery (IPC 392) and attempt to commit culpable homicide (IPC 308) in addition to voluntarily causing hurt (IPC 323), use of dangerous weapons (IPC 324) and use of obscene words (294B).
The Maradu Police earlier lodged a case based on the statement of Ajay Ghosh, who is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital here.
The crew allegedly bashed up the three passengers and ousted them from the bus when it reached Vytilla around 4.20 am on Sunday.
This after the passengers questioned the inordinate delay from the bus operator in arranging an alternative after the bus proceeding from Thiruvananthapuram to Bangalore broke down at Haripad and sought police help.
They sent another bus on which they assaulted the three when it reached Vytilla. The police also raided and closed down the office of the operator at Vytilla after they found that it was transporting parcels illegally.
“We’re collecting details of others involved in the attack by questioning the company officials and checking CCTV visuals from the crime spot. More arrests will follow, and additional charges lodged against them once we take the statement of other two who were also assaulted,” Maradu sub-inspector Baiju P. Babu told reporters.
They may face charges of robbery (IPC 392) and attempt to commit culpable homicide (IPC 308) in addition to voluntarily causing hurt (IPC 323), use of dangerous weapons (IPC 324) and use of obscene words (294B).
The Maradu Police earlier lodged a case based on the statement of Ajay Ghosh, who is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital here. The crew allegedly bashed up the three passengers and ousted them from the bus when it reached Vytilla around 4.20 am on Sunday.
This after the passengers questioned the inordinate delay from the bus operator in arranging an alternative after the bus proceeding from Thiruvananthapuram to Bangalore broke down at Haripad and sought police help. They sent another bus on which they assaulted the three when it reached Vytilla. The police also raided and closed down the office of the operator at Vytilla after they found that it was transporting parcels illegally.
Sources said they recovered several parcels from the agency office in Vytilla and seized hard drive of the CCTV footage.
“A direction has been given to inspect documents of all buses of Kallada and whether such charges were earlier reported against them. We’ll monitor the operation of all travel agencies conducting such long haul services in the coming days,” city police commissioner S. Surendran said.
Meanwhile, the motor vehicle department (MVD) is exploring actions including the cancellation of license of the driver and the suspension of bus permit.
“We’re waiting for the police report to initiate action,” said a senior MVD official.
