The busy Palarivattom Junction in the city witnessed some tense moments on Tuesday when a top trade union leader in Ernakulam was hacked in the neck in full public view, moments after he had inaugurated a protest against the operation of online taxi cabs in Kochi.
According to the police, K.N. Gopinath, Ernakulam district president of the CITU, was admitted to a private hospital with a major injury on his neck. The incident took place around 12.30 p.m. when Mr.Gopinath was returning after inaugurating the protest in front of the Uber Taxi office in Palarivattom.
The police nabbed a Vadakara native, identified as Unnikrishnan, in connection with the incident. “Eyewitness accounts suggested that the assailant hacked Mr. Gopinath on the neck from behind using a sickle-like weapon without any provocation, before fleeing the scene. CITU members present in the area, however, chased and nabbed him’’, said K. Laljy, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ernakulam. Mr. Gopinath was rushed to a hospital where he underwent a surgery. His condition is said to be stable.
Meanwhile, the police interrogated the assailant and confirmed that he had no personal animosity towards the victim, and they are yet to ascertain the exact reason for the attack. “During the interrogation, the assailant told us that he hated all communists’’, the official said.
Official sources also pointed to the possibility of the person being mentally unstable as he gave contradictory answers to the same questions during the grilling session. The accused has been booked under IPC 307 for attempt to murder.
Following the incident, CITU activists staged a protest march to the Palarivattom police station, leading to a partial disruption in traffic. In protest against the incident, autorickshaws and taxi cabs kept off the city roads till 6 p.m. While there were initial reports that the assailant was an Uber driver, the local office of Uber later clarified that he was not its member.
In a statement, P. Rajeev, secretary of the Ernakulam District Committee of the CPI(M), condemned the attack.
