Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala on Wednesday assured the state Assembly that strong action would be taken against the accused in the Mini Cooper crash that killed three youngsters, seeking to allay the Opposition’s concerns over the investigation.
Vijayan questioned why the accused, identified as Suhail, was not named in the FIR and why the police had not invoked more stringent provisions of law against him. However, he objected to communal remarks posted on social media in connection with the incident, describing them as unacceptable. He questioned why the 19-year-old driver had been sent to a juvenile home, also known as a Borstal school, after being remanded to judicial custody. He said a medical examination had revealed a high level of alcohol in the accused’s bloodstream, following which the police invoked Sections 281 , 49 and 3 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita , in addition to Section 105 of the BNS and Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. On the decision to send Suhail and the three others who were in the car at the time of the incident to a juvenile home, the minister said the magisterial court had acted in accordance with prison rules, which mandate that those aged between 18 and 21 be sent to such facilities.
Chennithala said the police had asked the Motor Vehicle Department to cancel the accused driver’s licence. Aluva MLA Anwar Sadath, who also spoke on the issue, said the incident should be treated as murder rather than a mere accident and called for the maximum possible punishment for the accused.
