Nedumbassery luxury car crash: District court rejects bail pleas of all four accused

The car that was involved in the accident at Nedumbassery, Kochi, on October 11.

The Ernakulam Additional District Court on Wednesday (October 28, 2026) rejected the bail applications of all four accused in the Nedumbassery luxury car crash that claimed three lives.

Suhail Sajeev, the prime accused who allegedly drove the car under the influence of alcohol, and three co-passengers, Ninav, Ameen Sha and Joyal S., all aged 19, had approached the court after the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Angamaly, rejected their bail applications on October 17. While the prosecution opposed the bail pleas citing the need for police custody of the accused for further detailed interrogation, the defence argued that there was no requirement for additional police custody and that the abetment charges against accused numbers two to four would not stand.

“We will move an application seeking the custody of all four accused for detailed investigation based on evidence and witnesses that have emerged since they were remanded,” police sources said. Investigators claim to have traced a key eyewitness, an online cab driver, after extensively examining CCTV footage.

The Ernakulam Rural Police investigating the case had earlier this week claimed to have secured an audio clip sent by one of the four accused to his friends, detailing the tragic turn of events shortly after the accident. It was among the digital pieces of evidence produced by the police before the Ernakulam Additional District Court to oppose the bail applications of the accused on Monday (October 26, 2026).

According to the police, Joyal, who had fled the scene immediately after the incident, sent an audio clip to one of his friends describing the accident in detail. In the clip, he allegedly says that Suhail was heavily intoxicated and driving at an extremely high speed when he knocked down three youngsters travelling on a scooter. He also claims that Suhail called his father immediately after the accident. He had even shared news links related to the incident, police sources said.

While Suhail and Ninav were taken into custody from the spot immediately after the accident, Ameen and Joyal, who had fled the scene, were apprehended in Alappuzha the following day.

The accident occurred on October 11 at around 1.45 a.m., claiming the lives of Devika, 21, Gopika, 22, and Ijaz, 21.

Suhail allegedly visited three bars in the hours leading up to the incident and was driving at a speed of around 165 kmph at the time of the crash.

The incident attracted considerable media attention, and the Opposition LDF raised the matter in the Assembly. Controversy also erupted over Suhail being sent to a Borstal school instead of a prison.