Thalassery: The Crime Branch has taken over the investigation into the atrocious incident in which a six-year-old boy belonging to a family of migrants from Rajasthan was kicked by a man for leaning on his car.
A team led by Superintendent of Police K V Babu is in charge of the probe and it has taken the statement of the boy and his parents.
The case was transferred to the Crime Branch after allegations were raised regarding the lapses of the local police officers, who had let off the assailant, K Muhammed Shihad (20), after taking him into custody.
The shocking incident happened at Thalassery in Kerala's Kannur district.
The local cops had allowed Shihad, a native of Ponniamangalam, to go home after they had taken him into custody on Thursday night. Statements have been taken from Inspector M Anil and civil police officers on duty at the time of the incident.
The cops defended their action stating that they had initially let off Shihad as he had health issues and could not be kept at the police station.
Shihad is currently in remand. A production warrant has been issued for him on Monday and his bail plea has been posted to another day by the Judicial First Class Magistrate.
In a related development, Shihad’s relatives alleged in social media posts that the Rajasthani boy had tried to hurt children who were in the car.
Meanwhile, the police also arrested another person, Mahmood (55) of Darul Aman, Muzhapilangad, after it emerged from CCTV visuals that he had slapped the boy. Mahmood was later released on bail. As per the visuals, the boy was slapped by Mahmood — who was walking along the road —sometime before he was kicked by Shihad.
Top cops including Deputy Inspector General of Police Rahul R Nair; Superintendent of Police, Kannur (Rural), Rajeev Kumar; and Assistant SP P Nidhin Raj visited the boy at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment for the injuries received following the kicks.
