Kochi: Three youths were allegedly stripped, confined, brutally assaulted and publicly tonsured by a mob in Kochi's Perumbavoor after being falsely accused of supplying cannabis to a minor, in a shocking case of vigilante violence that has sparked widespread outrage.

Perumbavoor police have registered a case and detained five persons in connection with the incident. Senior officers declined to reveal the identities of those detained, saying interrogation was in progress and that efforts were underway to trace the remaining suspects.

The incident occurred on Wednesday at Kandanthara, where Alvin Shaji (20), Mohammed Alfas (21) and Gokul Deepak (18) were allegedly attacked by a group of local residents at a soda manufacturing company. 

Alvin, an employee of Topz Soda in Kandanthara, said he had stayed home because there was little work, when he received a call from the factory manager. “The manager asked me to come to the company. Since it was related to work, I went there. When I reached, my friends were already there.” Alvin told Onmanorama. 

According to Alvin, Alfas and Gokul had gone to the factory to seek a job for Gokul. When Alvin arrived around 4.30 pm, he found them surrounded by a crowd that snatched the keys of their motorcycle.

According to the police, the attack followed an earlier incident in nearby Vallam, where local residents allegedly caught a minor school student using ganja. Under pressure from the crowd, the boy reportedly mentioned Bhai Colony in Kandanthara as the source of the drug. The mob then reached the soda factory searching for the alleged suppliers.

Alvin said the crowd demanded to know who 'Albi', his nickname, was. "They had already caught my friends and didn't tell us what the issue was. They took away the bike key, called more people and then asked who Albi was. I told them I was Alvin and that they had nothing to do with this." 

He said the group repeatedly accused him of selling drugs to schoolchildren and demanded to know where he hid the narcotics. “I told them I wasn’t selling drugs. I admitted that I had used cannabis in the past, but I have never sold it or given it to anyone,” Alvin said.

The attackers then summoned the school student. “When the boy came, he clearly told them, ‘He didn't give it to me. It was someone else.’ But they still questioned him and refused to believe us.” Alvin added.

Despite the boy’s statement, the mob allegedly continued the assault. Alvin said around 10 to 15 people gathered at the spot, with six or seven men leading the attack.

According to their complaint, some members of the group entered the factory and unplugged the CCTV cameras before assaulting the victims.

Locked in a room, stripped and beaten
Alvin alleged that while Gokul was spared the worst of the violence after the attackers realised he was only 18, he and Alfas were dragged into a changing room inside the factory. “They locked the two of us inside and kept asking where we hid the drugs. I repeatedly told them there was nothing,” he said. 

He alleged that the men forced him to remove his clothes. “They told me to remove my pants and then my underwear. I told them I wasn't hiding anything, but they didn't listen.”

Even after finding no contraband, the assault continued. “After I put my clothes back on, one of them forced me to bend down and beat me hard across my back."

Alvin alleged that he and Alfas were repeatedly beaten with wooden sticks on their backs and legs, slapped across their ears and stamped on their chests.

Heads tonsured on roadside
The victims said the mob then dragged all three of them outside the factory and forced them to kneel on the roadside. A migrant worker employed at a nearby barber shop was called to shave their heads in public. “They took us outside, called a barber and made all three of us sit by the roadside. He trimmed our hair fully using a trimmer there itself,” Alvin said. 

According to Alvin, the attackers collected the trimmed hair in a plastic cover, handed it back to the victims and told them to throw it away before letting them leave.

The three youths immediately approached the Perumbavoor Police Station and lodged a complaint before being admitted to the Government Hospital with multiple injuries, including severe swelling and contusions caused by the assault.

According to the victims, the intimidation continued even after the incident. They alleged that a former panchayat member, along with some local residents, demanded that their families be evicted from the locality, accusing them of peddling drugs.

Alvin said his landlord later sent a voice message asking the family to vacate the house immediately. Fearing further attacks, Alvin shifted to his maternal grandmother’s residence near the KSRTC bus stand.

Investigation underway
Based on the victims’ statements, Perumbavoor police registered an FIR under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including charges related to unlawful assembly, wrongful confinement, assault and criminal intimidation.

Police sources said five suspects were detained for questioning while efforts were continuing to identify and arrest the remaining accused.