THODUPUZHA: The accused in a POCSO case, who tried to escape after punching the policeman in the face while being taken to jail, was chased and caught. CPO Nahas of Thodupuzha station sustained a fractured tooth in the attack. The arrested accused is Kudayathoor Thengumpally native Abhijith (20), who was arrested in the case of molesting a 14-year-old girl. The incident took place on Tuesday night at nine o'clock.

The police team was on its way to the district jail after producing Abhijith before the magistrate and getting him remanded. During the journey, they stopped at a restaurant to have food and removed his handcuff. While coming out after washing his hands, the accused punched a policeman in the face and tried to escape. However, the other policemen, who were with him, ran after him and caught him. Following this, the police booked Abhijith for assaulting a policeman and trying to escape from custody.

Apart from Abhijith, the police arrested two others in the molestation case yesterday. The arrested are Cheranallur native Saneesh (27) and Vaikom native Lijin Santosh (22). The case is that the trio raped a girl they met through Instagram.