Thrissur: K P Ouseph, head of Laly’s Group and owner of Food and Fun Hotel at Pattikkad in Thrissur, has revealed details of the custodial torture of his employees and son at Peechi police station in May 2023 after visuals of the incident came out. In an interview, Ouseph said: “The police collected ₹5 lakh as bribe from me after threatening to file a false POCSO case against my employees and son.”

The series of incidents began with a dispute raised by some customers over food at Ouseph’s hotel, leading to a police complaint.

Did you have to pay a bribe to avoid being made an accused in a case?
I was forced to pay ₹5 lakh as a bribe. The person who raised the complaint demanded ₹3 lakh for the sub-inspector (SI) of police and ₹2 lakh for himself. The complainant, who belonged to Palakkad, reached my house at Pattikkad in his own car and collected the money.

Why did you pay the money? Was there any threat?
I went to the police station along with my son, Paul Joseph, after hearing that my driver and the hotel manager were being detained there. The SI, P M Ratheesh, alleged that the employees at my hotel had assaulted Dinesh, the complainant, and a case for attempt to murder would be registered. He also threatened to file a POCSO case against the employees and my son, as the person accompanying Dinesh was a minor, and would remand them. The SI also said that an FIR would be registered within 15 minutes.

What really happened at the hotel? When was the complaint filed?
The incident at the hotel took place around 2.30 pm, when around 80 customers were having food. Dinesh and his nephew (sister’s son) ordered biriyani. They created a ruckus, shouting that the biriyani was very bad, and complained to Rony John, the hotel manager.

We immediately contacted the police over the phone and informed them about the commotion. The police did not arrive for a long time and we called them again. They asked us to detain both Dinesh and his nephew. But, there was another delay on the part of the police and my employees went back to their work. We sent an email to the police station complaining about the ruckus at the hotel.

Meanwhile, Dinesh approached the police station alleging that he had been assaulted. Subsequently, hotel manager Rony and driver Libin Philip went to the police station with a copy of the complaint we sent as an email. As per the complaint filed by Dinesh, the hotel staff had attempted to kill him by forcibly thrusting biriyani into his mouth.  

The police detained the driver and hotel manager and thrashed them. Upon being informed about this development, I went to the police station with my son, Paul Joseph. The SI spoke to us very harshly. He also put Rony, Libin and Paul into the station lockup.

When did you decide to launch a legal battle?
Dinesh collected ₹5 lakh from my house, went to the police station and signed a paper which said that he had no complaint. My son and staff were released only 30 minutes after the complainant left. The next day itself, I sent a complaint to the Chief Minister, Director General of Police (DGP) and others. An application was also submitted to obtain the CCTV visuals from the police station. But there was no response even after approaching the officers several times.

So, I approached the Kerala State Human Rights Commission. There was no action even after four sittings. Later, I moved to the State Information Commission. The SI was given a promotion even after the DGP had received a report from the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) that he was guilty. The officer is still engaged in law and order duty. Subsequently, I approached the High Court, which ordered a reinvestigation under the supervision of the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court.

Manager’s statement
Rony John, manager of the Food and Fun Hotel, also recounted his ordeal: “The SI slapped me hard on my ear. I sought treatment at a nearby hospital and am still undergoing treatment for headaches and nerve pain,” he said.