Youth Congress (YC) protesters, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for allegedly shielding officers accused of criminality and corruption in the Police department, clashed with the police in three districts in the State, resulting in injuries on both sides on Thursday.
The Secretariat locality in Thiruvananthapuram was the central point of the Statewide protests.
The police baton-charged the protesters after water cannon jets failed to dissuade the activists from charging the phalanx of riot control officers in front of the Secretariat gates. YC State vice-president Abin Varkey was among the injured.
The police also prevented a set of women YC workers from scaling the Secretariat’s perimeter fence, prompting the accusation that male officers had manhandled the activists. The police arrested scores of YC workers, including State president Rahul Mamkootathil. They hustled them away in a police bus to a nearby police camp.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K. Sudhakaran and M. Liju, KPCC secretary (organisation), arrived on the scene and protested against the police action.
Mr. Sudhakaran said pro-CPI(M) police officers had unleashed brutal violence against the YC activists and the Congress-led United Democratic Front would bring them to account.
The police used water cannons to disperse YC workers in Pathanamthitta and Kottayam. The activists pulled down police barricades and the protests threw traffic out of gear in the strife zones.
Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Ramesh Chennithala termed the police action barbaric and said the ruling front supporters in uniform would answer for their brutality. Mr. Chennithala cautioned the government against unleashing the police to stifle democratic dissent.
The YC has been on the warpath against the government since Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislator P.V. Anvar accused Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, M.R. Ajith Kumar of serious crime, including murders, disappearances and using plain-clothes squads to waylay gold smugglers for the contraband. Mr. Anvar had also raised comparable charges against Superintendent of Police Sujith Das, including illegal tree-felling.
Mr. Anvar’s accusations prompted a high-level Police department probe. However, the investigation failed to placate the Opposition UDF, which termed it a sham and demanded that the officers be removed from service pending an inquiry.
Echoing Mr. Anvar’s sentiments, the UDF had also accused Mr. Vijayan’s political secretary P. Sasi of giving free reins to delinquent officers in the department.
The Opposition attempted to put the blame for the allegedly poor state of affairs in law enforcement on Mr. Vijayan’s doorstep. It demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation and Mr. Vijayan’s resignation.
Published - September 05, 2024 07:26 pm IST
