Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan, who assumed office on Monday, has ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to reinvestigate the alleged assault on Congress workers by the gunmen of former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during the 2023 Nava Kerala Sadas outreach programme.

The move comes more than a year after the Alappuzha Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, in November 2024, ordered a reinvestigation into the incident after rejecting a refer report filed by the police.

The alleged incident took place on December 15, 2023, near the General Hospital junction in Alappuzha when Youth Congress activists, including the now Congress MLA-elect A D Thomas, staged a protest while Vijayan and ministers were travelling in a bus as part of the Nava Kerala Sadas programme.

The protesters had alleged that they were assaulted by the Chief Minister’s gunmen and police personnel accompanying the convoy. However, the police later filed a refer report claiming that the allegations were baseless and that no such assault had taken place.

According to the police report, CCTV footage from shops near the General Hospital junction did not reveal any evidence to support the allegations. The report also stated that police personnel in the escort vehicles had intervened only to prevent any untoward incident and had acted within the scope of their official duties.

The police further argued that there was no intentional illegal act against the complainants and cited provisions of the Kerala Police Act to justify the action taken by officers on duty. Referring to Section 113(1) of the Act, the report stated that no prosecution or legal proceedings shall lie against police officers or public servants for actions carried out in good faith during the discharge of official duties.

Rejecting the police findings, the Alappuzha Magistrate Court ordered a fresh probe into the case.