Ex-Miss Kerala's death: Police arrest Kochi hotel owner, 5 staffers as new twists and turns emerge

By Siddharth MP and Jaipal Sharma

Kochi: The Palarivattom Police on Wednesday (November 17, 2021) arrested six people, including a hotel owner, in connection with the death of former Miss South India and Miss Kerala 2019 Ansi Kabeer, 25, Miss Kerala 2019 first runner-up Anjana Shajan, 26 and one other on November 1.

According to the police, Roy Vayalat, owner of the No. 18 Hotel at Fort Kochi, along with five of his employees had allegedly destroyed a hard disk of CCTV footage at the hotel. The five employees have been identified as Melwin, Vishu, Linson, Shijulal and Anil.

The development came to light when the police were investigating the death of former Kerala Miss India Ansi Kabeer, her colleague and first runner-up in 2019 Miss Kerala contest Anjana Shajan and Thrissur native Mohammad Ashiq who died in a car accident at Chakkarapparambu in Kochi on November 1 late night. While Ancy Kabeer, 25, and Anjana Shajan, 24, had died instantly in the crash,  Ashiq, succumbed to his injuries a few days later, leaving Abdul Rahman, who drove the car, the only witness. 

Following the accident, Rahman was booked for drunken driving under the relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act and the IPC. The police have arrested him under charges of 'involuntary manslaughter'.

The police quizzed Roy Vayalat for 11 hours on Tuesday. Then he was summoned again on Wednesday to the Ernakulam ACP office. In a latest development, a special team of the Crime Branch headed by S.P. Biji George will reportedly probe the car crash.

(With Agency inputs)

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