The march taken out by the Students' Federation of India (SFI) activists in the town on Monday turned violent. The police had to fire teargas shells to disperse the angry mob. At least six police personnel and five SFI activists were injured in the melee.
The march taken out under the leadership of SFI district secretary Satheesh Varkey, to protest against the police action against SFI activists in Thiruvananthapuram, turned violent when it reached the district collectorate gates where the police had put in extra security measures. The agitating students tried to jump over the barricades and the police resorted to cane charging to disperse the mob. However, a good number of SFI activists had entered the collectorate compound from where they started throwing stones at the police. The mob also destroyed the vehicles parked in the compound. The police fired teargas shells to disperse them. Most of the activists escaped through the gate behind the campus.
The six police personnel who have been admitted to hospital with injuries are P. M. Varghese Dy.SP, Kottayam; Santhosh, SI of Police, Kottayam west police station; Jose, ASI, Kottayam east police station; Civil Police Officers B. S. Nisa, Rajesh John, and Ramesh. The SFI activists who have been admitted to hospital are district secretary Mr. Varkey, district committee member T Hari, area committee member Jake Thomas, activists Subin Kumar and Nitin Chandran.
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Later in the evening, DYFI activists took out a protest march against police action against the SFI activists.