The Kerala Police on Saturday filed a case against K Sudhakaran, the state Congress chief, V D Satheesan, the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, and other senior leaders of the unit. This is related to the violence that occurred in Thiruvananthapuram during the party's march to the DGP office. The protests organized by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) resulted in incidents of violence, leading to senior Congress leaders, including MPs and MLAs, facing suffocation. Some were hospitalized due to the use of tear gas shells by the police.
A senior police official of the district told PTI that the case was registered under various provisions of the IPC, including that of rioting, obstructing roads and preventing public servants from performing their duties, against all the leaders and the party workers who took part in the protest.
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," the 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' outreach programme of the Left government.
One of the tear gas shells blasted behind the stage from where the senior leaders were addressing the crowd resulted in discomfort to many, including Sudhakaran and Chennithala. Sudhakaran was later hospitalised.
While the Congress and UDF leaders alleged that it was a "premeditated attack" targeting their life, the ruling CPI(M) and LDF justified the police action, saying it was the opposition party activists who tried to create issues.
(With PTI inputs)
