Lorry driver dies after released on bail

KOCHI: In a suspected case of police negligence, a 44-year-old lorry driver who was detained for drunk driving in the city died soon after he was released on bail. The deceased, Santhosh Kurian of Vazummel House, Mamala, Thiruvankulam was detained from Kundanoor Junction around 12 noon and was later taken to the Edappally Traffic Police Station from where he was released on bail. Later, he died at a private hospital around 2 pm. The Ernakulam Range IG has ordered a high-level probe into the incident.According to Edappally Police, after getting bail, Santhosh complained of chest pain and was taken to a private hospital by the police with the help of the lorry owner.“He was at the station only for 10 minutes. There was no delay in granting him bail. It was after being released on bail that he complained of chest pain and went to the hospital,” said Edappally Traffic CI P H Ibrahim.However, K V Sajan, the lorry owner, said that even before getting bail, Santhosh was complaining of chest pain. “He has been complaining about severe chest pain. But the police officials didn’t take it seriously. Instead of giving him medical aid or taking him to the hospital, he was asked to lie down on the bench in the police station. On getting bail, he was rushed to the hospital in Edappally where he breathed his last.”The hospital authorites confirmed that Santhosh was brought to hospital in a critical condition. They believe the death might have occured due to cardiac arrest. The body was later taken to the Ernakulam General Hospital where the postmortem would be conducted on Friday.It was only two days back that Santhosh joined duty for running the Kochi Corporation’s lorries carrying waste. He is survived by wife Mary Anet and two children, Saniga 9, and Aslin 4. The funeral would held at St George Church on Friday at 4 pm.Meanwhile, Santhosh’s friend Binu T, with whom the former spoke over phone from the police station, said it was an incident of police negligence. “Santhosh had called me from the police station thrice. He said he was suffering from chest pain, but the police did not believe it. He also asked me to go to the traffic station,” Binu told ‘Express’.