Alappuzha accident: Medical student claims ₹1,000 paid for car, contradicting owner’s version

Alappuzha: The police have claimed that the medical students involved in the recent Alappuzha accident took the car for rent, contradicting the vehicle owner’s version.

Gaurishankar, one of the injured students, in his statement given to police said that he had paid ₹1,000 to the car's owner via Google Pay as the vehicle's rent.

Gaurishankar was the person who drove the car during the accident. Following his statement, the Alappuzha South police stated that the owner, Shamil Khan, had falsely claimed the car was not rented out.

Shamil Khan, a native of Ambalapuzha, had told both the Motor Vehicles Department and the police on Tuesday that he gave the car as a favour after Muhammed Jabbar’s brother, an engineering student in Thiruvananthapuram, requested it. Khan also gave the same explanation in his statement at the Motor Vehicles Department’s office on Wednesday.

However, the authorities were sceptical of Khan’s explanation, prompting them to record Gaurishankar’s statement.

Shamil Khan reportedly used to rent vehicles. Renting a privately registered vehicle and using it for taxi services is illegal. The Motor Vehicles Department is expected to take strict action in the wake of this.