Malappuram: Two police officers have been suspended, and one transferred for manhandling the son of a CPM Ponnani area committee member and DYFI workers following skirmishes during a temple festival at Eramangalam near Ponnani. Malappuram District Police Chief R Viswanath took disciplinary action against the officials based on an inquiry report submitted by Tirur DySP Moosa Vallikkadan.

Senior Civil Police Officer San Soman and Civil Police Officer U Umesh from Perumpadappu Police Station have been suspended pending an inquiry. Civil Police Officer J Jojo has been transferred to Kottakkal. The district police acted after CPM leaders filed a complaint with the Chief Minister.

The alleged police brutality occurred during the temple festival at Eramangalam. The CPM has accused the police of forcefully entering the homes of relatives of party leaders and DYFI workers, dragging them out, and brutally assaulting them. It is alleged that the cops broke the tooth of Abhiram, son of CPM area committee member Suresh Kakkanath, with a baton, inflicted injuries on his chest and face, and caused wounds to his private parts.

The complaint further alleges that the youths were taken in a police vehicle to an isolated plot and assaulted. The police action was reportedly driven by frustration over failing to apprehend the actual accused in a case. Police released the young men from custody after nabbing the accused. 

However, the Perumpadappu Police maintain that it was the party workers who attacked them during the festival. They denied assaulting any students and claimed that the detained individuals were released the following morning.