The investigation team is looking to complete test identification parade before Tuesday at the Aluva Sub Jail where Alam is currently lodged.
KOCHI: Police investigating the rape and murder of a five-year-old at Aluva will conduct the test identification parade (TIP) of the accused on Tuesday. The investigation team has sought seven days of custody of the accused Asafak Alam, 28, of Bihar at the Ernakulam Additional Sessions Court for the Trial of Cases on Atrocities against Women and Children.
The investigation team on Monday obtained the permission of Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court for conducting TIP of the accused. The investigation team is looking to complete TIP before Tuesday at the Aluva Sub Jail where Alam is currently lodged. Police have prepared a list of people who saw Alam before and after the murder on July 28.
During the TIP, multiple persons including the accused will be lined up in a large room. The witnesses will have to identify the accused from several persons standing in the room. The TIP will be crucial during the trial stage of the case.
According to Ernakulam rural police chief Vivek Kumar, they have moved the court seeking seven days’ custody of the accused. “Currently we are looking to complete the TIP before getting the accused in custody. The application seeking the custody of the accused is likely to be considered by the court on Tuesday. We are collecting evidence against the accused. The mobile phone of the accused will be sent for forensic analysis,” he said.
Kerala Police have checked the history of Alam with the Bihar police and it was found that there are no cases against him there. Police found that he was hired by a contractor in Aluva for manual work. He also worked near the market premises. “But he was not a familiar face for people in the Aluva market. He has been in Aluva and nearby areas for the past two years.
He is a heavy drinker and used to fight with people regularly. But no cases were registered against him here as well. We are questioning people who are close to him. His mobile phone content has to be checked,” sources said. It was on July 28, Alam abducted the five-year-old girl from her house at Garage Junction in Choornikara. He took the victim to a waste dump yard behind Aluva market, where she was raped and murdered.
Surprise raids at 53 locations
Kochi: Following the murder of a five-year-old at Aluva, the excise department on Monday carried out searches at the houses of migrant workers at Perumbavoor and Aluva. The search was held at 53 places. Ernakulam Excise Deputy Commissioner B Tennymon said raids are being conducted every month. The murder case was one of the several other reasons for conducting a surprise raid. As many as 15 cases of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act and two cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act were charged. “Most of the cases were related to the sale and possession of banned tobacco products. Two were arrested for possessing narcotic substances,” he said.