Kochi City Police Commissioner and Inspector General of Police (IGP) S Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar was removed from his post for allegedly failing to act during the ‘golden hour’ in the investigation into a fatal car crash involving the 17-year-old son of an additional district judge, sources said.
The decision was taken on Wednesday, October 28.
Kaliraj Mahesh was replaced by R Nishanthini, who previously served as IGP of the South Zone.
The move came a day after the government suspended four police personnel attached to the Cheranalloor police station for their alleged mishandling of the case. They include Station House Officer and Sub-Inspector Viswajith VS, Circle Inspector Syam Kumar KS, Grade Assistant Sub-Inspector Manoj KT and Senior Civil Police Officer Arun Joshy.
The suspensions followed a report submitted by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) P Vijayan, who visited the police station on October 27 and held a meeting with senior officers, including Kumar. The visit was made on the directions of Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala. Vijayan also met the victim's family and visited the accident site.
Chennithala was reportedly unhappy with the way the Kochi City Police handled the case, particularly the initial decision to invoke relatively minor charges against the teenager and release him on station bail.
The police have faced allegations of being rude to the victim's family and delaying action against the judge, who is the father of the accused teenager.
Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Thursday, October 29, granted interim protection from arrest to the judge, who has been named as an accused in the case. The court directed the police not to arrest him until further orders and asked him to cooperate with the investigation.
Justice Kauser Edappagath passed the order while hearing the judge's anticipatory bail plea. The court questioned the need for his arrest, noting that he had already appeared before the police and undergone more than four hours of interrogation on Wednesday.
In his anticipatory bail plea, the judge claimed that he was asleep when his 17-year-old son took the Mercedes-Benz without his knowledge. He said he learnt about the accident only after receiving a phone call informing him about it.
Jayabalakrishnan, 55, who ran a roadside eatery in Chittur, Cheranalloor, was returning home after closing his establishment when the speeding Mercedes-Benz hit his scooter on Container Road around 2.20 am on Sunday, October 25. He died in the accident.
The teenager was initially booked under Sections 281 and 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), relating to rash driving and causing death by a rash or negligent act. He was released on station bail, triggering protests by the victim's family and local residents. The police later added Section 105 of the BNS, which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The Juvenile Justice Board subsequently granted bail to the teenager. The state has moved to challenge that decision and seek cancellation of his bail.
The victim's family had demanded action against both the father and son, the judge's suspension and action against police personnel allegedly responsible for mishandling the case. Jayabalakrishnan's children staged a protest outside the Cheranalloor police station on Monday, October 26, before calling it off following assurances from Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala.
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