Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defended his gunman Anil Kumar and security staff Sandeep once again on Monday.
The LDF government has been under attack from the opposition ever since a video of his gunman stepping out of a vehicle in the CM's cavalcade and assaulting protestors went viral. The Congress has accused the security personnel and CPM workers accompanying the cavalcade during last month's Nava Kerala Sadas yatra of having beaten up protestors.
"I'm unaware of any instances in which my security personnel were engaged in attacks on opposition members participating in democratic protests. There was no police action on any democratic protests held against the Nava Kerala Sadas. However, it is the responsibility of the security personnel to protect the designated person if the protesters approach the individual," the CM said in his written reply to a query by opposition MLAs in the state assembly.
In the carefully worded response, the CM wrote, "It came to our notice that certain youth wing organisations had obstructed the vehicles of the ministers and engaged in violence. The police did not take any action against protests organised in a democratic manner. In Alappuzha, the YC activists attacked the police. The police is forced to act when there is obstruction of duty."
The chief minister's gunman and security staff did not appear before Kerala police for questioning in the case related to the assault of KSU and Youth Congress workers on Monday. The gunman accompanied the Chief Minister to the Kerala Assembly for the budget session on Monday.
Responding to another query in the assembly regarding the reported assault by workers of the ruling CPM on a differently-abled Congress leader, Vijayan stated that a case had been registered, and the accused was arrested and subsequently presented before the court.
