Thiruvananthapuram: The thing DySP B Harikumar, who hanged himself at his residence after pushing an electrician onto a speeding car, dreaded the most was ending up in Neyyattinkara sub-jail. This was why he was afraid to surrender before the Neyyattinkara court. This was revealed by the DySP's friend K Binu, who was with the deceased cop during the nine days he kept evading the police.
During his interrogation by the Crime Branch, Binu had told cops on November 13 that it was in Neyyattinkara jail that most criminals Harikumar had nabbed were incarcerated. He feared that if he were to be locked up there these convicts would physically and mentally torture him. Harikumar felt that it was better to live like a fugitive than to surrender and be under the mercy of convicts he himself had brought to book, Binu is said to have told Crime Branch sleuths investigating the case.
According to Binu, they were mostly on the road while on the run. Except in Thirparappu in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, where they stayed at a lodge owned by the friend of Binu's son Anoop Krishna, they tried their best to avoid hotels and lodges. They knew that the DySP's picture was shown on not just Malayalam television channels but also national channels. They feared that they could be easily recognised. The solution was to be in the car most of the time. They slept and ate in the car.
Since they moved between states, Binu said Harikumar made sure to keep himself hidden at check-posts. He said Harikumar made sure that his face was not caught on CCTV cameras mounted on check-posts. Binu has not convincingly accounted for their attempt to flee from the spot after pushing Sanalkumar in front of a speeding vehicle. Binu said Harikumar feared mob violence. Binu also said it was he who suggested that they take legal advice first. When Harikumar was told that he could easily get anticipatory bail, he decided to lie low at his house in Kallambalam. But when it became certain that bail was impossible, Binu said they fled to Tamil Nadu.
Binu said they kept travelling without aim. They travelled through mostly uninhabited areas, making detours through forest roads. Crime Branch sources refused to give names when asked whether Binu had informed them of the people Harikumar had contacted while on the run. “Those could be mere allegations. We cannot take all that he said at face value,” is how a source responded.
It was through the Thenmala-Punalur route they sneaked back into Kerala. Sources also refused to comment when asked how they managed to get through check-posts without anyone noticing. A source conceded that alerts were sent out to all check-posts and look-out circulars with photographs and identification marks were also mailed to police stations in border areas.
Binu said he had left Harikumar at the pathway that led to his house at Veyloor near Kallambalam. He said he came to know of Harikumar's death from television reports.
Binu, a private money-lender, had surrendered before the Crime Branch on November 13, hours after Harikumar was found dead. Along with him was Ramesh, whom sources said was the driver of the car in which Harikumar and Binu escaped across the border.
