Condemning Wednesday’s police action, the People’s Action Committee against the GAIL pipeline project has called for a hartal in Kodiyathur and Karassery grama panchayats in the district on Thursday. The hartal would also affect the bordering areas of Kizhuparamba grama panchayat in Malappuram district.
Action committee leaders said the police mercilessly beat up people who gathered at Mukkom for a peaceful protest. Even those who were not part of the anti-GAIL protest were beaten up by the police, they said.
Meanwhile, the police said they resorted to lathi charge as some of the agitators intentionally attacked a police vehicle with stones when it entered the venue of the protest in the morning. They damaged the window panes of a KSRTC bus besides damaging the tyre of another one. Only those who attacked the policemen at the spot were detained, the police claimed.
However, the action committee leaders denied the charges of the police and alleged that it was the policemen who damaged several private vehicles. They also brushed aside the argument of the police and GAIL authorities that there were people from other locations to fuel the protest.
Basheer Puthiyottil, vice chairman of the Anti-GAIL action committee, said the protesters were all residents of Kozhikode and they were all at the spot of agitation from dawn to dusk. There were also local residents who were not directly associated with the action committee but gathered at the spot in support of the agitation.
Following the hartal call, the police strengthened their security arrangements in the Mukkom area.
