Kochi: Former Home Minister and current Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said it all. “It is a shame for the Kerala Police that they were forced to take the accused into custody from a courtroom”. The accused he was referring to were Pulsar Suni and his accomplice Vijesh, both involved in the alleged molestation of an actor in a car and whom the police has been unable to hunt down for six days. The two accused thumbed their noses at the law enforcement agency when they evaded the security cordon and ducked into the Ernakulam Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, barely 500 metres from the office of the Ernakulam police commissioner.
This took place even as a team headed by ADGP B Sandhya, two IGs and several other senior officials, were in hot pursuit of the two since the shameful incident last Saturday. The absence of the judge in the courtroom came in handy for the police team to storm into the room and drag out the accused after a virtual free-for all. Although a section of advocates tried to prevent the cops and lock the door, the police team headed by circle inspector Ananth Lal brushed them aside and whisked away the two to the Aluva Police Club, the main centre of the special investigation team, probing the case.
Although the arrest of Suni and Vijesh came as a great breakthrough in the probe in connection with the case, the failure of the police in nabbing the accused before they reached the court premises has raised serious questions about the efficacy of the police action in the case. “The arrest of the accused came as a great relief. But this is not a proud moment for the police”, Ramesh Chennithala told reporters. DGP Loknath Behera declined to comment on the propriety of taking the accused into custody from the court premises. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan however brushed aside the criticism over the police action and said such issues were raised by people with an agenda to protect vested interests. The CM congratulated the cops for nabbing the prime accused in the case.
