On Saturday, the Congress accused the police of launching "unprovoked" teargas shells at the party's Thiruvananthapuram protest rally, landing leaders in hospital.
Congress leaders before the march to the DGP office in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala on Saturday, 23 December, 2023. (INCKerala/X)
The Kerala Police have registered a case against state Congress chief K Sudhakaran, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly VD Satheesan, and the senior leaders in connection with the violence in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, 23 December, during the party’s march to the DGP office.
The police also registered a case against two security personnel of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for allegedly assaulting Youth Congress workers recently while they were protesting against the Left government’s Nava Kerala Sadas yatra, said officials in Alappuzha.
The state capital witnessed incidents of violence on Saturday during protests organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
A battery of senior Congress leaders in Kerala, including senior MPs and MLAs, suffered from suffocation and some were even hospitalised after the police fired tear gas shells during the protest.
A senior police official of the district told PTI on Saturday that the case was registered under various provisions of the IPC against all the leaders and the party workers who took part in the protest.
These included sections pertaining to rioting, obstructing roads, and preventing public servants from performing their duties.
Apart from Sudhakaran and Satheesan, the Museum police registered the case against MPs Shashi Tharoor, Kodikkunnil Suresh, Adoor Prakash, K Muraleedharan and Jebi Mather, MLA Ramesh Chennithala, and others.
“The meeting was almost over. At that time, the protesters started aggressively shaking the barricades, after which we started spraying water… It seems like they got irritated due to the water spraying and started throwing stones. Then, we had to release the gas,” an official said.
Around 300-400 people were there as part of the protest, the official said, adding there were no reports of injuries.
A few journalists suffered injuries during the stone-pelting but none of them have officially complained to the police.
The march was organised by the KPCC alleging police atrocities against its workers during their agitation over the Nava Kerala Sadas.
Meanwhile, police officials said the case against the chief minister’s security personnel was lodged in Alappuzha following a court order from earlier in the day on Saturday.
Youth Congress workers AD Thomas and Ajay Jewel Kuriakose had approached the local court with a private complaint against the members of the chief minister’s security detail.
As per the directions of the court, the Alappuzha South police registered a case under IPC Sections 294 B (using obscene words), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 325 (voluntarily causes grievous hurt) against the chief minister’s gunman, Anil, and another policeman, the officials said.
A video of the chief minister’s security personnel recently surfaced online in which they were purportedly seen stepping out of their vehicle and assaulting protesters.
Congress workers were protesting against the chief minister and his Cabinet colleagues, who were on a state-wide Nava Kerala Sadas yatra an outreach programme by the Left government.
The Opposition party has been alleging that the government was using the state machinery for the Left party’s political campaign.
(With PTI inputs)
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