Sunil Kumar and Vejeesh landed there on Friday morning from Coimbatore to surrender before the court as advised by their lawyer
Amid dramatic events on Friday in the sensational abduction case of a Malayali actress, prime suspects Sunil Kumar and Vejeesh were forcibly taken away by the police from the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Kochi on Thursday when they were waiting to surrender before the magistrate.
Later, in major setback to the police and the government, the magistrate ordered the circle inspector to hand them over to the investigating officer and produce them before the magistrate under whose jurisdiction the police station where the case is registered is.
The dramatic events unfurled at the CJM court in the afternoon. Kumar and Vejeesh landed there on Friday morning from Coimbatore to surrender before the court as advised by their lawyer. They set out to the court from their hideout in Kochi on a car around the noon. The police, who got a tip-off, followed them. But the police vehicle was caught in traffic jam at several places and they lost track of them. The duo changed vehicles several times and finally reached a temple adjacent to the court on a motorbike.
While police in uniform and plainclothes waited at the court, they entered the court through the isolated rear entrance, accompanied by a woman lawyer. Since they were in white shirts and black trousers, people at the court premises took them as lawyers.
When they reached the court, it had risen for lunch. They rushed to the dock in the court. While two junior lawyers stood guard, their senior Krishna Kumar went to the magistrate's chamber and submitted the surrender application. The magistrate reportedly told the lawyer that the application would be considered after lunch.
Meanwhile, having heard Kumar and Vejeesh were at the courtroom, assistant public prosecutor alerted the police. The Kochi Central police station circle inspector Ananthalal and his men stormed into the courtroom and took them into custody. The duo clung to the iron bars of a window. Soon, lawyers intervened and a scuffle ensued. Finally, police dragged them along the floor of the court, threw them into a waiting vehicle and drove away.
In his complaint, counsel Krishna Kumar raised the police action and contempt of court against the circle inspector and a police constable. The court will look into these charges in the coming days.
The court order was a blow to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who had praised the police for 'arresting' the two and to Law Minister AK Balan who claimed that they were hiding at the court to evade arrest. But DGP Loknath Behra refused to comment.
While the police are trying to play it down as a case of extortion, veteran CPM leader VS Achuthanandan, Kanam Rajendran, state secretary of CPI, and leading actress Manju Warrier, a close friend of the actress, aver that the abduction was conspired by some bigwigs in the film industry.
Kumar and Vejeesh had been on the run since Friday night after the actress was abducted and sexually abused by them for over two hours. Five others of the gang had already been arrested.
The actress was abducted on Friday night while she was coming from Thrissur to Kochi for a post-production work of a film. She was travelling on a car sent by the production unit. It was waylaid by Kumar and his gang members.
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