Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Parked car creates panic in residential colony

Photo: S. Gopakumar

Abandoned: The police inspect an abandoned car at Padma Nagar, East Fort. The owner later turned up to claim the vehicle. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A car left parked in a residential colony in the Fort area for two days triggered alarm among the residents and a flurry of police activity for over an hour before the owner turned up.

Residents in the Padma Nagar colony alerted the police about the presence of the black Ford car that was left parked on one of the roads in the colony for two days. The car had a dent on the bonnet.

A police team, which arrived on the spot, found a Tamil newspaper on the dashboard of the vehicle. The paper carried news about the murder of academic Malik Mohammed at Nagercoil earlier this week.

On opening the front door of the car with special tools, the police team found a ticket issued at the Amaravila check-post, leading them to suspect that the car may have been one of the vehicles used to transport the criminals involved in the murder.

Just as a police tow truck was brought to take the car away for detailed inspection, the team received a message from the control room asking them to keep the vehicle intact for fingerprint experts to scour the interiors. The Assistant Commissioner of police arrived to inspect the vehicle. Alerted about the incident, mediapersons began arriving.

As the number of police jeeps increased, residents and passers by gathered for a closer look at the goings on. A woman, apparently flustered, came hurrying from a neighbouring area claiming that the car belonged to her husband. She said the car had to be left on the road since her apartment lacked parking space. She also said the vehicle was parked in the colony with the knowledge of the security guard employed by the residents’ association.

The police left after verifying the claims made by the woman.

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