Crime Branch Forms New Team to Trace Absconding MLA Rahul Mankoottil

Thiruvananthapuram: The Crime Branch has set up a new investigation team to trace Palakkad MLA Rahul Mankoottil, who has been on the run after being named an accused in a sexual assault case. Authorities suspect that information from the initial team may have been leaked, prompting the formation of a new unit.
The survivor’s statement in the second case will now be recorded afresh. Although the court has not stayed Rahul’s arrest in the second complaint—filed by a 23-year-old woman—a previous stay in another case had forced investigators to withdraw from Karnataka. Rahul has been missing for ten days, ever since the first complainant submitted a petition to the Chief Minister’s office on November 27.