An Assistant Commissioner with the city traffic police has been arraigned as an accused by the Ernakulam Rural police in connection with an accident in which a pedestrian was knocked down at Puthenvelikkara on Saturday.

The officer was identified as A.A. Ashraf. The Puthenvelikkara police registered the case based on eyewitness accounts. The incident took place amid rain on Saturday at 7.55 p.m. The injured was identified as Francis, 78, of Puthenvelikkara. He sustained head injuries.

According to the first information report, the accused knocked down the victim near the Keezhupadam church at Puthenvelikkara along the Mala-Elanthikkara Road. The accused was booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 281 (rash driving on a public road) and 125 (a) (acts that endanger personal safety of others).

After initially identifying the accused merely as an unknown driver of the police vehicle involved in the accident, the officer was arraigned at a later stage. The police are probing whether speeding had led to the accident.