Kochi: The key accused in the No 18 Hotel POCSO case Roy J Vayalat surrendered before the police in Mattanchery. He will soon be taken into custody by Kochi city police. The other accused in the case, Saiju M Thankachan, is still in hiding. The police team have strengthened search for him. 

Police conducted a search at the residences of Roy Vayalat and Saiju recently. The places of their relatives were also searched but the accused were not found there. Roy surrendered while the police search for progressing in and around the main spots in Kochi. 

The High Court had denied anticipatory bail to Roy Vayalat and Saiju Thankachan in the POCSO case. They approached the Supreme Court following this. The apex court on Friday denied anticipatory bail. The third accused Anjali Reemadev was granted anticipatory bail by the High Court. 

The apex court bench comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna and Bela M Trivedi, after examining the CCTV footage and the statement of the victim, said that they cannot intervene in the High Court order that rejected bail.

A POCSO case was registered against Roy and two others at the Fort Kochi police station based on a complaint by a woman and her daughter from Kozhikode. Roy's friend Saiju Thankachan and his friend Anjali were also named accused in the case.