HC directs preservation of police station CCTV footage

Kochi: The high court has directed the SHO of Cheranalloor police station, Ernakulam, to preserve the CCTV footage of the station from midnight on March 8 to midnight on March 11. The direction was issued in a petition by a mentally challenged person alleging that a fake NDPS case had been registered against him.
The Cheranalloor native stated that he was taken to the police station by his father on March 10 after police instructed to present him in connection with an accident case. However, upon arrival, the ASI allegedly registered a false NDPS case against him, claiming that he was apprehended at Kunnumpuram Signal Junction with 4g of ganja.
The petitioner alleged that the ASI acted out of personal rivalry with his father, a CPM activist. He claimed that two cousins of the ASI, Shameer and Illiyas, who belong to the opposite political party, had enmity toward his father for participating in a protest against Shameer's wife. The petitioner contended that the CCTV footage of Cheranalloor police station would reveal that he and his father had voluntarily arrived there, contradicting the police version.
Considering the petition, Justice VG Arun directed the preservation of the footage and posted the case for May 25.