Published Oct 02, 2026 | 1:44 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 02, 2026 | 1:44 PM
CPI (M) MLA V Joy at a party march. (Screengrab)
A remark by CPI(M) district secretary and MLA V Joy at a party march to the Secretariat, in which he referred to a possible “murder” if a police officer continued to be a nuisance, has triggered controversy amid the escalating confrontation between the CPI(M) and the police over the alleged assault on SFI activists.
Joy made the remark while addressing Cantonment Assistant Commissioner V Jayachandran during the march organised by the CPI(M) to protest the alleged lathi-charge on SFI activists.
The statement, which was captured on video and later circulated on social media, is being interpreted as a threat against Cantonment SI Gokul.
“If he becomes unbearable, I tell you, a murder will take place—just watch,” Joy is heard saying in the video. The words immediately following the reference to “murder” are not clearly audible.
The remark was made in the presence of senior CPI(M) leaders, including Anavoor Nagappan and Kadakampally Surendran, as party workers raised allegations against the police officers involved in the incident.
The CPI(M) has accused Cantonment CI Satheesh Kumar and SI Gokul of entering the University Men’s Hostel on Wednesday, 1 October night and assaulting SFI activists.
The party and the SFI subsequently organised separate marches to the Secretariat demanding action against the two officers.
The confrontation has intensified with SFI leaders publicly declaring that the two officers would be confronted on the streets over the alleged assault.
The two officers have also faced a wave of attacks and abuse on social media.
Joy later sought to clarify his remarks, saying he had not threatened to kill the police officer or said that he would commit a murder.
According to Joy, his statement was intended to warn about the possible consequences of the alleged police assault on students.
He said he had told the Assistant Commissioner that if students were beaten so brutally, they could even be killed.
Joy maintained that his reference was to the possibility of a fatal incident arising from the situation and not a declaration that he himself would carry out a killing.
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(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
