Village office fire: special squad formed

The Thiruvananthapuram Rural police are yet to make a breakthrough in the case in which the village office of Vellarada was set afire on Thursday.

A special squad has been constituted under Neyyattinkara Dy.SP M.A. Nazeer and District Crime Records Bureau Dy.SP T. Ajith Kumar. The squad consists of Circle Inspectors of Vellarada, Parassala and Aryanad police, and sub-inspectors of Aryancode, Marayamuttom, Vellarada and Parassala police.

The squad is trying to identify the accused through visuals captured by CCTV cameras installed in the area. The police are also examining the CCTV camera visuals at the check-post on Tamil Nadu border. A police team has left for Tamil Nadu.

The police are looking into allegations that the mining mafia devised the attack to destroy vital documents. Another angle being explored is that the accused could have been frustrated after his application for documents were turned down.

The medical college authorities said the condition of those hospitalised after the incident was satisfactory.

Forum’s allegation

Meanwhile, Action Council Vellarada, spearheading an agitation against quarrying, said that the mining mafia was behind the attack.

Council office-bearers said a mining firm had been facing a probe by the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) following charges of using fake deeds to claim ownership of a plot of land. “The VACB has sought a report of the Vellarada village offic. Representatives of the company had requested the village officer to issue a certificate in favour of the firm a few days ago. When the official refused, a heated exchange ensued. Their only alternative was to destroy the files,” they said.