Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has come down heavily on Kannur District Police Chief G H Yatish Chandra for 'punishing' a group of people for apparently violating the lockdown restrictions.
"Such incident should not happen in future," Pinarayi said, referring to Yatish Chandra's action.
In the video, which was telecast on Manorama News, Chandra was seen asking three people who stood near a provision store in Azhikkal to do the sit-up on Saturday.
"You should get this punishment as you did not listen to the prime minister and chief minister," Chandra was heard saying in the video.
Chandra later told Manorama News that the sit-up punishment was given to create public awareness about lockdown. "Teachers usually punish mischevious students. My action should be considered like that," he said.
But Vijayan was not ready to take the the IPS officer's action lightly. “The home secretary has asked the State Police Chief to submit a report about the incident," he said.
Chief minister said Chandra's action would tarnish the image of the police force. "Many members of the police force are working tirelessly round the clock. And they have earned people's goodwill. But such actions (punishment) will create a bad image among public," he said.
The incident happened when many police brutalities against people violating lockdown were reported from different parts of the country. Migrant labourers bore the major brunt of violent police actions, which drew flak from human rights activists.
Yathish Chandra, a 2011 batch IPS officer hailing from Karnataka, had hogged limelight when he engaged into a verbal spat with former union minister Pon Radhakrishnan at Sabarimala in 2018. The incident happened when Sabarimala witnessed violent incidents in the wake of Supreme Court verdict on women's entry. When the minister asked Chandra to allow his motorcade to Nilakkal, he asked minister whether he would take responsibility for any traffic snags.
