CPI(M) men lay siege to Pettah police station

Accuse police of allowing RSS assault in station

September 17, 2018 01:14 am | Updated 01:14 am IST - Thiruvananthapuram

The CPI(M) on Sunday alleged that local police officers at Pettah station house had accorded RSS activists a free hand to assault two of their workers who had gone to the police station as complainants.

However, Assistant Commissioner, Shanghumugham, Shani Khan, told The Hindu that the allegation was a lie.

He said he had inspected the video feed from the surveillance camera inside the station house and found the claim to be false and unfounded.

The police had protected the complainants. No assault or untoward incident had occurred inside the station house.

However, local CPI(M) men, who had gathered in strength in front of the station, disputed Mr. Shani. They alleged that two local officers had sided openly with the RSS men.

The RSS activists had attacked their cadres in front of the pump house in Anayara earlier at 9.30 p.m.

The victims had gone to the station to register their grievance.

No RSS activists or BJP worker was available for immediate comment.

The party men said their party colleagues, who were injured in the attack, had arrived at the Pettah station to lodge a complaint against their attackers.

They alleged that RSS activists trespassed into the police station when the police were recording the statement of CPI(M) activists and roughed them up.

The CPI(M)-RSS stand-off has triggered a tense situation in the locality. Police officers and local people said the incident on Sunday was the most recent in the chain of RSS-CPI(M) tit-for-tat attacks in the fiercely politically contested area. Officials said at least two persons had sustained minor injuries in the incident.

The police have been deployed in strength in front of Pettah station.

They have intensified night patrolling in the locality and intensified vehicle checking.

The police have also initiated an internal inquiry into the incident.

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