Nearly two weeks after the accident that killed three people in Kochi — including a former winner and a runner-up of Miss Kerala pageant — it has emerged that they might have been chased by an Audi car. Abdul Rahman, the driver of the car that crashed who has been seriously injured and in hospital, told the police that the accident happened because of the chase, Asianet News reports. 

The police got CCTV visuals which show an Audi car behind the car in which the women, 25-year-old Ansi Kabeer and 26-year-old Anjana Shajan, were travelling. The police reportedly suspect that the cars were racing against each other that night. Ansi Kabeer won the Miss Kerala 2019 and later went on to win Miss South India in 2021.

The visuals also show that the Audi car returned to the spot of the accident moments after it took place, the report said. The car had by then reached Edappally. A friend of the victims, Roy, is seen emerging from the car, in the CCTV visuals. Roy was also part of the evening party in Fort Kochi attended by the victims. Ansi and Anjana were returning from the party with two other friends when the accident took place.

While the two women died instantly in the crash on November 1, a third person, Ashiq, succumbed to his injuries a few days later, leaving Abdul Rahman, who drove the car, the only witness. Abdul Rahman continues to be in hospital, and police have registered his arrest under charges of involuntary manslaughter.

While the probe team recovered the hard disk of the CCTV footage at the hotel, it did not get any visuals of the party.

Meanwhile, reports say that there was an unpleasant incident during the party. Before things could take an ugly turn, the youngsters had left the hotel. Abdul Rahman was driving under the influence of alcohol. The car, after hitting a two-wheeler, lost control and turned turtle.

During an earlier interrogation, the driver of the car said that the victims' car was going at a breakneck speed.

With inputs from IANS