A year after hit-and-run case in Kerala, accused held

A look-out circular had been issued by the local police against Shajeel after they zeroed in on his car after months-long investigation

The Kerala police on Monday arrested the accused in a hit-and-run case, which left an elderly woman dead and her granddaughter in a coma on February 17, 2024, police officers aware of the matter said, adding that he was nabbed after he landed at the Coimbatore International Airport from Dubai.

MP Shajeel

Officers of the Vadakara police identified the accused as MP Shajeel.

A look-out circular had been issued by the local police against Shajeel after they zeroed in on his car after months-long investigation.

Shajeel is accused of hitting Baby (68) and her nine-year-old granddaughter, Drishana, while they were crossing the national highway at Chorode in Kozhikode district, following which he fled. While the woman succumbed to injuries on the spot, Drishana suffered grievous injuries resulting in a coma for the past several months.

A senior officer said that police only had a clue about the vehicle based on the statement of an auto-rickshaw driver about the first two numbers of the licence plate. As part of the investigation, police checked CCTV footage of the area around the accident spot and searched through records of nearly 19,000 vehicles to get more information about the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run.

“The accused later filed an insurance claim stating that his car had hit a post. That clue became vital in zeroing in on the accused,” the officer said.

Police have booked the accused under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and filing a false insurance claim.

Drishana’s mother, Smitha, told reporters, “We can never forgive him. He has a criminal mind. For the past one year, he lived in Dubai while my daughter suffered. If he had any humanity, he would have taken them to the hospital. My mother would have been alive today.”