Kochi: Hotel owner Roy Joseph Vayalat and his five employees -- KK Anil, Wilson Reynold, MB Melvin, GA Sijulal and Vishnu Kumar -- who were in custody in connection with the models' death in Kochi were granted conditional bail on Thursday.

The six men were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly destroying digital evidence in connection with the November 1 incident that claimed three lives, including that of models Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan.

The probe took a fresh turn after investigators learnt that one of the hard disks containing visuals from CCTV cameras of 'No 18 Hotel' was discarded in the lake.

An employee of the hotel told the police that he had dumped the hard disk drive in the lake as directed by the hotel's promoter, Roy Vayalat.  

The hotel employee, however, could not provide details of the contents stored in the hard disk. He reportedly told investigators that he acted as instructed by Vayalat, and had not seen the visuals.

Police said they would seek the help of expert divers to retrieve the hard disk. Investigators searched the Kannamkattu bridge and surrounding areas in the presence of the employee on Wednesday. It has been suspected that the disk was dumped into the lake from the bridge near Thevara.

Vayalat had produced a digital video recorder before the police on Tuesday. Nothing suspicious was found in the record.

Room Nos 208, 218 of No 18 under scanner

Meanwhile, police have extended the probe to a few people who had stayed in the hotel in the intervening night of October 31 and November 1, without recording their details in the register. The probe is currently focused on the occupants of rooms 208 and 218 on that fateful night.

The police special branch has reported that hotelier Vayalat often allowed several people to stay in the hotel without registering their details.

The hotel employees have deposed before the police that the rooms 208 and 218 on the second floor were occupied when the models attended the late-night party on October 31. Their names and addresses, however, were not recorded. Visuals from the CCTV cameras opening to the corridor leading to these two rooms are missing.

Models Ansi Kabeer of Thiruvananthapuram and Anjana Shajan of Thrissur were killed instantly when the car they were travelling in swerved off the road and crashed into the median after hitting a two-wheeler at Chakkaraparambu on Vyttila-Edappally stretch of the bypass around 1 am on November 1. Their friend Mohammad Ashiq succumbed to injuries after a few days.

The youngsters were heading to Shajan's residence after attending a DJ party at 'No 18' when the accident occurred.