The rural police on Friday registered a First Information Report against an unspecified number of Left Democratic Front (LDF) activists on the charge of assaulting Mary Valsala, wife of R. Selvaraj, former Communist Party of India (Marxist) MLA, who recently defected to the United Democratic Front and is the Congress candidate in the Neyyattinkara Assembly constituency by-poll scheduled to be held on Saturday.
A police official, quoting Mary's complaint, said that the LDF workers had stopped her car near the Udiyankulangara Cooperative Bank around 9.30 a.m. on Friday and robbed the money she intended to deposit in the bank. She accused them of assaulting her and outraging her modesty.
The police said a UDF supporter, identified as Saji, was with her then. Both got admitted to the taluk hospital at Parassala where they were treated for injuries. On the basis of her complaint, the police slapped charges of robbery, outraging the modesty of a woman, illegal detention, rioting, verbal abuse, and unlawful assembly against the yet-to-be identified suspects.
CPI(M) counters it
CPI(M) district secretary Kadakampally Surendran contested her claims. He said that Mary and Saji, an employee of a private bank, had called a meeting of three family units of the Kudumbasree Mission in the area under polling booth number 67 to influence the voters by offering them money.
He said the private bank had earlier extended the first instalment of the micro-finance scheme for 15 Kudumbasree units. Mr. Surendran alleged that Mary and Saji distributed money to the unit members saying that it was the second instalment of the scheme. He alleged that Mary and Saji exhorted the unit members to vote for Mr. Selvaraj and that they told the meeting that the “second instalment of the loan need not be paid back”. A few CPI(M) supporters protested. Soon, Bharatiya Janata Party workers also staged a protest there. Mr. Surendran said the police arrived at the spot at the behest of the CPI(M) workers. They took Mary and Saji into custody. But instead of taking them to the police station, they admitted them to a hospital and made them give a false statement against LDF workers.
Mr. Surendran said Mr. Selvaraj had been caught on television offering money to voters. He demanded that the Election Commission disqualify him. The Communist Party of India also made a similar accusation here.
Case of assault
Meanwhile, the Neyyattinkara police registered a case of assault against some LDF workers on the basis of a complaint filed by a Congress activist. Quoting the complainant, the police said the attackers had tried to grievously hurt him near Thavarvila.
