A deputy superintendent of police (DySP) continues to remain at large a day after he was charged with murder and suspended over the death of a young man near Neyyattinkara. The case file says that DySP B. Harikumar, who carries a record of several suspensions, pushed electrician-plumber S. Sanal, 33, on to the road causing his death by a speeding car that overrun him. Harikumar immediately fled the spot. The police said that he has gone into hiding. Sanal, a native of Kodangavila, was the lone breadwinner of his family. He is survived by his wife Viji and children Albin and Ebin.
Furious locals blocked the national highway for hours demanding the officer's immediate arrest. Hundreds of people joined a protest when Sanal's body was brought after post-mortem.
The incident took place around 10.30 pm on Monday when Harikumar came out of the house of a private money dealer K. Binu. He got furious when he found Sanal's car parked in front of his. Sanal, who was having food at a wayside eatery, came running as the officer shouted. Eyewitnesses say the officer, in plain clothes, started beating up Sanal and then pushed him holding by the neck. The young man fell on the road in front of a speeding car and was overrun.
Sultan Mahin, an eyewitness said Sanal fell after the police officer pushed him. “The DySP had first beaten him up. In a heated argument that followed, the DySP pushed him on to the road. Sanal came under the car that was passing by and got killed,” he said. Others who were present on the spot also raised serious charges against the officer. They said the police officer assaulted Sanal brutally, twisted his hand and pushed him on to the road. The officer then fled the spot, without bothering to take Sanal to the hospital.
The victim was rushed to the Neyyattinkara general hospital and later to the Medical College Hospital, but his life could not be saved. Harikumar was charged with murder, based on the statement of Sanal's friend Chembanavilayil Shaiju. The officer was reportedly chased and assaulted by some local people as he tried to run away. While Nedumangad ASP Sujit Das investigates the case, an AIG at the police headquarters will conduct a departmental inquiry.
