Kottayam: Five months after an old woman was killed in a hit-and-run case at Koruthode, Mundakkayam police recorded the arrest of the accused from Hyderabad on Saturday. The accused, identified as Jineesh Reddy, 30 was employed as a driver in Telangana. The accident happened on December 15, 2023. Thankamma, a resident of Koruthode was on her way to church when she was hit by a car carrying Sabarimala pilgrims at around 9 am. She was rushed to hospital where she succumbed to injuries.
It was an eyewitness who provided the initial lead for the cops. The vehicle was an SUV and was brown. The police also learnt that it was Maruti Ertiga. Soon Mundakayam police started scouting for CCTV visuals in the nearby areas. The lead was also shared with other police stations. Piecing together the visuals gave an idea that the vehicle went towards the Cumbum-Theni route. A police team travelled to Cumbum and started checking footage from CCTV cameras on the route matching the date on which the accident happened.
The team scoured footage from over 100 cameras before one of the visuals showed the number of the car. '' We soon reached out to Telangana Motor Vehicles Department and got information about the RC owner based in Karimnagar, Telangana,'' said Thrideep Chandran, SHO, Mundakkayam police, who led the six-member investigation team.
Once the owner was tracked, a police team went to Hyderabad and learnt that the vehicle belonged to a woman who ran a rent-a-car business. The cops looked up the booking data in December 2023 and tracked down Reddy. '' He confessed to the crime and he was brought from Hyderabad two days ago,'' Thrideep Chandran said.
He was slapped with section 304 A IPC which deals with causing the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide. Reddy was released on bail later.
