Kochi: Kerala Police have ended the unfruitful search for the missing hard disk containing the visuals of the DJ party held at No 18 hotel on November 1. Former beauty pageant winners Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan had attended the party before the accident.
A team of scuba divers on Monday searched the backwaters near here to retrieve the hard disk.
Though the probe team recovered the hard disk of the CCTV footage at the hotel, it failed to get any visuals of the party, raising suspicion of foul play.
The hotel staff had told the police that the hard disk with the visuals of the party was thrown into the backwaters as directed by the hotel owner Roy Vayalat. They were also present at the spot during the search.
Under pressure, the state government has now appointed a fresh team to probe the accident deaths. The Kerala police have also appealed against the bail granted to the staff and owner of the hotel.
Roy Vayalat and five of his staff members were arrested on Wednesday night but were granted bail the following night.
Models Ansi Kabeer, 25, and Anjana Shajan, 24, had died instantly in the crash, while a third person - Ashiq, succumbed to his injuries a few days later, leaving Abdul Rahman, who drove the car, the only witness.
Rahman is presently out of hospital but the police have arrested him under charges of 'involuntary manslaughter'.
After several days of the probe, the police team learnt that there was an altercation during the party. Before things could take an ugly turn, the youngsters had left the hotel.
According to sources, Rahman was driving under the influence of alcohol. It was on their way back that the car, after hitting a two-wheeler, lost control and turned turtle.
(With inputs from IANS)
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