THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The driver and the lorry that hit journalist S V Pradeep have been taken into custody. The driver identified as Joy was taken into custody from Enchakkal by a team led by Fort assistant commissioner A C Prathapan. He has been taken to Nemom police station.

The lorry laden with sand was proceeding to Neyyattinkara part. He was taken into custody when he was trying to flee while returning after unloading the sand.

The incident happened last evening at 3.30 pm near the Karakkamandapam signal at Pappanamcode. The lorry that hit Pradeep’s scooter did not stop and instead sped away. The vehicle could not be identified as there was no traffic CCTV. The police got only some footages from a nearby shop and the probe was conducted based on it.

Pradeep had worked in several channels and was now working in an online media. Of late, he had come out with some hard-hitting reports in the recent gold smuggling case. It is believed that Pradeep was preparing for a big revelation. Surendran mentioned the death as mysterious and said that the journalist was privy to a lot of secrets concerning the powerful.