Kozhikode: A day after Kozhikode Rural Police arrested five UDF workers in connection with an explosion during a protest in Perambra, District Congress President K Praveen Kumar released six pieces of citizen footage claiming the explosive came from the police's side.

The visuals show police officers in riot gear holding tear gas canisters and flash-bang (stun) grenades. To be sure, none of the videos show officers actually throwing the explosive. "But we can establish it came from the police's side," said Praveen Kumar.

The incident dates back to October 10, when the UDF, after observing a dawn-to-dusk hartal in Perambra, took out a protest march through the town. Around the same time, the CPM also organised a rally at the Perambra bus stand, putting the two rival political fronts on a collision course.

On hearing of rising tensions, Vadakara MP Shafi Parambil and Kozhikode District Congress chief Praveen Kumar reached the spot to pacify the crowd.

Videos that surfaced later show police officers beating MP Shafi Parambil with batons. The Congress leader suffered a broken nose in the attack.

Kozhikode Rural Police Chief K E Baiju later admitted that police, on October 10, resorted to a lathi charge without warning or command, calling it a mistake on the force's part.

The October 10 hartal was initially called to protest police action against KSU-MSF workers of CKG Memorial Government College following the college election.

The CPM's Students' Federation of India (SFI) had won 15 seats, while the Congress's Kerala Students' Union (KSU) and its ally, the Muslim Students' Federation (MSF), together won five. Clashes broke out when KSU-MSF claimed the chairman's post.

Police action on UDF
After dispersing the crowd on October 10, Perambra police, the next day, booked 600 Congress workers, including Shafi Parambil and Praveen Kumar, in connection with the clashes. Three days later, on October 13, after reviewing footage from the police's own cameraman, they added explosives-related charges. On October 15, police arrested five of the seven UDF workers in custody in connection with the explosive case.

At a press conference on Thursday, Praveen Kumar accused the police of trying to frame UDF workers. "The first video, 36 seconds long, shows police throwing tear gas and a stun grenade. Then there's smoke, confusion, and amid that chaos, an explosive comes from the police's side and bursts with intense light," he said.

When contacted, Rural Police Chief Baiju said he had seen the videos but could not confirm the source of the explosion. Asked whether the blast could have been from a stun grenade, he replied: "A case under the Explosives Act has been registered, which means an explosive was used. We are investigating the case. We are not obligated to convince you."

The Congress also questioned why the forensic team reached the site only four days later, by which time rain had already washed away potential evidence.

Meanwhile, the CPM sought to turn up the heat on Congress by threatening Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal and Shafi Parambil. At a public meeting in Perambra on Wednesday, LDF convener and MLA T P Ramakrishnan and CPM leader E P Jayarajan reportedly warned that only Shafi's nose was broken now; next time, his legs may be.