A day after the violent protest at Vizhinjam, an eerie calm prevailed over most of the coastal region with a large posse of police personnel standing guard at the villages to prevent any further untoward incidents.
The protesters led by the Latin Archdiocese, Thiruvananthapuram, on Sunday unleashed a reign of terror by attacking Vizhinjam police station that sent personnel there scurrying for safety with protesters holding the officers hostage for about four hours.
As many as 38 police personnel and over 30 protesters were injured when they waged a pitched battle with police in front of the police station. Cases were registered on Monday against over 3,000 identifiable people in connection with the violence that caused a loss to the tune of ₹85 lakh of public property.
In the morning, shops remained closed and streets were largely empty as protesters blocked the roads nearby with fishing vessels. The calm also hinted at the shock and tension prevailing in the region. Later, public transport was restored after the police cleared the road blockade by 10 a.m.
Police Forensic experts examining the damaged police vehicle at the Vizhinjam police station in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday where protesting fishermen damaged the station building on Sunday night. | Photo Credit: S. MAHINSHA
The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was reluctant to operate services in the morning, as the window panes of three buses and the KSRTC depot were destroyed by the miscreants. A large posse of police personnel was deployed in the area to maintain law and order. The Samara Samithi pandal of the pro-port supporters that was vandalised by the protesters was constructed again on Monday and both port supporters and protesters held protest meetings at the strike venues as usual.
Meanwhile, the police have released four out of five protesters taken into custody on station bail, while one protester, identified as Selton, who was under the custody of the police, was remanded in judicial custody. While seeking a judicial probe into the violence, Vicar General Eugine Pereira blamed the police for the escalating violence. It was a well-scripted plot by the police to sabotage the fishermen’s strike against the Vizhinjam International Seaport. They first created provocation by arresting people who were not part of the protest, said Fr. Pereira.
Ports Minister Ahamed Devarkovil said that the State government was perplexed and perturbed with the protesters coming up with new demands each time. The violence on the scale that the State witnessed on Sunday could not be taken lightly, said the Minister. The State would appraise the High Court about the latest developments and it would act based on the direction of the court, added the Minister.
The Kerala High Court had earlier directed the protesters to comply with its orders for unhindered ingress and egress to the project site, and subsequently, the protesters assured that they would not block the vehicle to the project site. But throwing all such assurance to the wind, the protesters on Saturday blocked the entry of vehicles to the project site that led to a fresh bout of violence between pro-port activists and protesters.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive council member P.K. Krishnadas described the attack on Vizhinjam police station as a failure of the State’s law and order machinery.
