Justice continues to elude construction worker Nagaraj, 22, who was reportedly mowed down by 37-year-old Manjula alias Mahi, who was allegedly at the wheel of the killer SUV (Toyota Fortuner bearing the registration number KA 03 MQ 1369) on the fateful morning of March 12.
After failing to nab Manjula after a chase of nearly five months, the city traffic police on Friday handed over the case to the Central Crime Branch, City police. “We have handed over the case to the CCB because they have a larger network and better investigative powers,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Mohammed Saleem told Deccan Chronicle.
“We have identified her and have been trying to track her down, but she is eluding us,” he added. Nagaraj was a resident of Kirubgere village in Deodurg taluk of Raichur district and had become a father few days before he was killed. Besides claiming his life, the killer SUV had injured other construction workers – Rangappa, L. Gowda and Shivayogi - from Kirubgere and Hanumanth from Shivangi village of Deodurg taluk.
The traffic police had constituted a four-member team of inspectors to track down Manjula after they located her local address to Babusahebpalya in Banaswadi. They had questioned her mother and sister, who live in Mysore. But they told the police that they were not in touch with Manjula. The police later released her photograph in the city and elsewhere in the state. According to eyewitnesses and the statement given by Ravi, who was with Manjula in the car that morning, she had taken over the wheel a few minutes before the accident. She had sent a letter to Home Minister R. Ashok that she was innocent and was being framed.