Kerala HC grants bail to four Mini Cooper crash accused; driver Suhail to be released after 10 days

The Kerala high court on Friday granted bail to the four accused in the Kochi Mini Cooper crash case who were in the car which killed 3 craft retail store employees last month.

However, the court ordered that one of the four accused, 19-year-old Suhail Sajeev, who drove the vehicle at the time, be released after 10 days. The court did not specify a time frame for the three other accused—Ameen Shah, Ninav, and Joyal S Anto—who may be released on Friday.

A speeding Mini Cooper, driven by Suhail, rammed into a two-wheeler on the road leading to the Cochin Airport in Kerala's Kochi on October 11, resulting in three deaths -- Iyas, Gopika and Devika, all of whom were employed at a retail crafts store in Thrikkakara. Police found that Suhail and his co-inhabitants in the car were intoxicated.

Suhail has been charged with offences including rash and negligent driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and culpable homicide not amounting to murder; the three others have been charged with abetting the accused.

High court says continued detention ‘unnecessary’

The bench of justice Kauser Edappagath held that the continued detention of the four accused was unnecessary, as they had been subjected to custodial interrogation twice and spent nearly a month in judicial remand. The court noted that the accused were young and had no criminal antecedents.

The four accused moved the high cout with bail applications after their petitions were rejected by the trial court in Angamaly and later by the Ernakulam district sessions court.

The police said that Suhail and his friends visited at least three bars in Kochi, where they consumed liquor, before heading to the Cochin airport to pick up their friends. A chemical analysis report found that the blood alcohol concentration level of Suhail was at least five times the permissible limit for driving in India.

While Suhail and Ninav were apprehended by locals and handed over to the police on the day of the accident, Ameen and Joyal were arrested in Alappuzha the next day.