Even as the family of the youngster who was killed after getting entangled in a cordon-off rope tied across the road continued to blame his death on police indifference, the Kochi City police insisted that they had merely followed the security protocol and attributed the accident to overspeeding by the victim.
Manoj Unni, 28, of Vaduthala died at Valanjambalam where a rope was tied across S.A. Road on the lane leading to M.G. Road as part of restricting vehicular traffic ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cavalcade passage to the Ernakulam Guest House on Sunday night. The hospital authorities attributed the death to a ruptured trachea, a minor surgery to correct which proved futile.
The police cited the CCTV footage of the accident, which had since emerged, to prove their point. “It clearly shows how the victim was overspeeding and ignored the cops deployed before the rope for traffic diversion. He probably panicked on seeing the police since he did not have a driving licence. The emotional response of the family is understandable, but the police simply followed the security protocol,” said S. Syamsundar, District Police Chief (Kochi City).
