Kochi Mini Cooper crash: Accused’s voice note recounts drinking, high-speed drive & fatal collision

Kochi: An audio note allegedly recorded by one of the accused youths in the fatal Nedumbassery Mini Cooper crash has emerged as crucial evidence for the prosecution in the case. The 1-minute-43-second recording, submitted by the police in court, details the events leading up to the collision that killed three youngsters, the aftermath of the crash and the prime accused’s claim that his father would “take care of everything”.

The Ernakulam Rural Police recovered the voice note from the mobile phone of Joyal S (19), the fourth accused in the case. According to the police, the recording, sent to a friend and marked with two blue ticks indicating it had been opened, was submitted before the Ernakulam Additional District Court in Ernakulam on Monday as the prosecution opposed the bail pleas of the accused.

The Special Public Prosecutor stressed the need for custodial interrogation to investigate the digital trails associated with the case. However, the defence argued that custody was unnecessary and contended that the abetment charges against accused numbers two to four would not stand.

The court has reserved its order on the bail pleas for Wednesday, October 28. Earlier, the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Angamaly had dismissed their bail applications on October 17, citing the risk of witness intimidation and evidence tampering.

The crash occurred around 1.45am on October 11 near the Cochin International Airport road, killing Devika (21), Gopika (22), and Iyas (21), who were travelling on a scooter. Suhail Sajeev (19), who was driving the speeding Mini Cooper, and his co-passengers Ninav, Ameen Sha and Joyal, were subsequently arrested.

Voice note recounts drinking and high-speed drive
According to the forensic extraction submitted to the court, Joyal sent the voice note to a friend at 9.25am, hours after the occupants of the Mini Cooper left the crash scene.

In the recording, Joyal recounts how the group travelled towards the airport, picked up Ninav and later joined Suhail in his car before visiting a bar. He says Suhail had already consumed alcohol before drinking again, while he himself had a beer.

“And he had already had drinks. Then he drank again. I also had a beer. After that, on the way back, oh, it was at crazy, crazy, crazy high speed that he drove. On the way back, he hit a scooter. Three people were travelling on that scooter. A single hit, the scooter and all three people were thrown off,” the audio transcript reads.

The account also describes the immediate aftermath of the collision, including how two of the accused allegedly fled the scene and the reaction of local residents.

Joyal recounted that immediately after they got out of the car, Ninav had asked him and Ameen to run. He said they walked away and returned to where their vehicle was parked, while Ninav and Suhail remained at the scene. He added that all three scooter-borne victims had died on the spot and said he was still trembling over the incident. Joyal also mentioned that Ninav was at the police station and believed he would not be granted bail that day.

“Ah, that other guy Suhail had had quite a lot of drinks, hadn’t he? Then he goes and tells the locals that his father would take care of all the remaining matters. Hearing that, the locals started beating and punching. Ninav also got punched. Finally, the police came and took them away... My hands and legs are all trembling right now.” the audio transcript reads.

News bulletin forwarded after crash
The forensic extraction also revealed that Joyal forwarded a YouTube news bulletin at 9.31am, shortly after sending the voice note. The bulletin was headlined “Three killed in tragic collision after speeding Mini Cooper hits scooter”.

Text exchanges between Joyal and others continued until 11.20am, according to the material submitted to the court.

Investigators have found that Suhail visited three bars before the collision and was driving at approximately 160 km/h. His blood alcohol level was found to be five times the permissible limit. The Excise Department has since suspended the licences of all three bars for serving liquor to underage patrons.

As the investigation continues, police have traced a key eyewitness, an app-based cab driver who was parked nearby at the time of the collision. His account is understood to be consistent with the CCTV footage examined by investigators.

The police are also trying to identify and locate additional witnesses in the airport corridor, who may have witnessed the crash or its aftermath.