Thiruvananthapuram: Police have arrested Joy, 50, a lorry driver from Peroorkada Vazhayila, in connection with the death of journalist SV Pradeep in a lorry crash. The driver of the tipper lorry, which did not stop after hitting the scooter on which Pradeep was traveling, was taken into custody at 2.30 pm yesterday. The lorry was found by CCTV footage near the Neem Karakamandapam where the accident took place.
According to the driver, the accident took place when he was going to unload rock dust in Vellayani and did not stop for fear of being attacked. Fort AC Prathap Chandran Nair said that the reliability of this is being checked. The employee who was in the lorry at the time of the accident will also be questioned.
Police had collected CCTV footage before and after the accident. Pradeep’s scooter, which was going to Pallichal from Thiruvananthapuram, was hit by a lorry at 3.15 pm on Monday. In the pre-accident camera footage, Pradeep’s scooter is seen on the left track and the lorry is on the right track about 100 meters behind. There is another bike right in front of the lorry. The lorry collided with the scooter, turning left from the right track. The lorry was going through the head of Pradeep who fell in the middle of the road. The lorry was seen speeding without stopping after the accident. The lorry’s number was identified by checking CCTV footage of several locations. Pradeep’s body was laid to rest at the Press Club after his postmortem at the Medical College.
The body was taken to Pallichal Govinda Bhavan and was cremated at the Thycaud Peace Gate in the evening. Pradeep Bharat, who was a presenter on several news channels, ran an online news channel called Live. According to the family, Pradeep’s life was threatened following the news, including against political leaders. KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran also demanded that the mystery of the accident be investigated.
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