Days after the horrific bus accident in Vadakkanchery in Kerala, in which 9 people lost their lives, it has now emerged that the police were callous in their investigation. Tourist bus driver Jomon Pathrose aka Jojo, who was booked for homicide for his careless driving that resulted in the accident, got away from the police for a few hours. And due to this negligence, the police were able to collect his blood sample only after 22 hours.
It was on Wednesday, October 5 that the bus driven by Jomon — with 42 school kids on a tour to Ooty — crashed into a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, resulting in the death of nine people, including five children. According to eyewitnesses, Jomon was at the scene till around 1 am, while the accident happened at 11.30 pm.
Immediately after the accident, Jomon is believed to have told the police and people gathered there that he was a tour operator and needed medical help. The police took him to the Vadakkanchery EK Nayanar Co-operative Hospital, according to reports. CCTV footage played on Asianet News shows Jomon entering the hospital ward around 3 am. However, he was not detained there and left the hospital around 6 am with some of his acquaintances.
Jomon initially told the hospital that he did not know anything about the accident as he was sleeping. Later when people from the tourist bus company reached the hospital, he told the doctor that he was indeed the driver. With the Vadakkanchery police failing to detain him, Jomon left the hospital. What is important to note is that Jomon’s blood samples were not taken at the hospital. The teachers and students who were on the bus have expressed doubts that he may have been drunk while driving.
On Thursday morning when the media started asking if the driver had been detained, the police seemed to have realised their slip-up. Jomon was detained from Chavara in Kollam around 3 pm. Here too, the police reportedly did not collect his blood samples, instead the Chavara police shifted his custody to the Vadakkanchery police. It was only around 9 pm on Thursday that his blood sample was finally collected.
Gastroenterologist Dr Surendran had earlier told TNM that if someone has a high metabolism, then the liver will quickly break down the alcohol. “However, if their metabolism isn’t that high, then it’s possible that the alcohol may stay in the blood for up to 24 hours, in theory. In practice, it usually stays in the blood for 12 hours or so,” he had said.
But this was not the only lapse. On Thursday, Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil told the media that Jomon had surrendered at a police station and was in police custody. It has now been alleged that the MLA was misled by the police.
Meanwhile, a previous undated video of Jomon dancing while driving has also surfaced. Some of the teachers and students who survived the accident had told the media that they had repeatedly asked Jomon to reduce the speed of the bus but he did not comply.