After a brief lull, tension gripped Thamarassery again as the police arrested two of the accused in the violent protests against the Fresh Cut factory in Amabayathode last year. Residents allege that the arrests, made early on Friday, created an atmosphere of fear and distress.

According to Thamby PP, a member of the protest council against Fresh Cut, the police arrived around midnight on Friday and began banging on the doors and windows of the two houses where the accused in the October 21 protest case had resided. 

"There was a 2-month-old and an elderly woman with hypertension in those houses," says Thampi. "The woman is still in shock after the incident," he adds.

A resident of one of the houses said that the cops were banging on the doors and windows of the house and repeatedly rang the bell, causing chaos. "They said that they won't leave without the accused and that they will break down the doors if we don't open. So we opened the door thinking of the 2-month-old baby in the house," she said.

However, the police's demeanour changed after opening the door, after which they behaved respectfully, she says.

Babu Kudukkil, a member of the Thamarassery Panchayat and himself an accused in the case involving the protests, told Onmanorama that two police jeeps and a car arrived late at night to arrest the two individuals. Things had almost settled after the earlier batch of police investigations, which had caused widespread fear, he said, unsure what had prompted this move.

The men had been in hiding since the first round of police searches began after the violence. However, a few of them returned after tensions in the region eased. "The police said that they had dropped the charges levied on certain accused, but did not state who they were," says Babu.

The Thamarassery Police confirmed they had arrested the two men in connection with the case, but denied the allegations of violence. However, the residents said they were startled by the move, which came late at night.

The conflict between the residents and the Fresh Cut Factory began in 2019, culminating in the violence that erupted on October 21, 2025, when the residents protested the company's operations.

The clash resulted in several injuries and arrests, with both sides alleging that the other initiated the violence. For weeks, the region remained deserted, except for the frequent police patrolling. While some residents were arrested, others fled in fear. And those who stayed back refused to step out.

With tensions easing, some who had fled returned home, and a degree of normalcy was restored, only to be quickly undone by the latest arrests.