Muthanga custodial torture: Govt to pay KK Surendran ₹12.5 lakh recovered from erring cops

Thiruvananthapuram: More than two decades after he was beaten in police custody over the Muthanga agitation, KK Surendran will finally get the compensation a court ordered for him. The state government has decided to implement the order without going for an appeal.

The State Police Chief has been directed to recover ₹12.5 lakh, including interest, from the police officers responsible for the brutality. The amount is to reach Surendran, a former gazetted officer and senior lecturer at the Sultan Bathery DIET in Wayanad.

Surendran had approached Chief Minister V D Satheesan along with social worker Professor Kusumam Joseph. The government's decision fulfils the assurance given at that meeting that his years-long grievances would get a lasting resolution, according to a statement from Satheesan on his official X handle.

What happened at Muthanga 
The Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS), led by CK Janu and activist M Geethanandan, launched the agitation of landless tribals in the Muthanga range of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary on January 4, 2003. The agitation demanded land the state had promised in 2001.

The violence broke out on February 19, 2003, when tribal families refused to vacate the occupied forest land at Thakarappady, claiming traditional rights over it, and clashes erupted during the eviction drive. Police constable Vinod and tribal activist Jogi were killed, and hundreds of tribals and several police personnel were injured. Allegations of atrocities against tribal women and children intensified public criticism.

Surendran was among those who paid for the aftermath. After the firing, Wayanad saw a sweeping crackdown on tribal people and their supporters, with writers, activists and journalists who backed the agitation facing the threat of arrest. Surendran was arrested from his home on February 24, 2003, and taken to the Sulthan Bathery police station, where policemen beat him one after another. He has said he was targeted for offering educational support to tribal children in the Muthanga camps.

The case is still live in the courts. After the Kalpetta Principal Sessions Court convicted four men on July 31, the Kerala High Court said the judgment needed thorough scrutiny. The High Court later suspended the sentences of the four convicts, including Geethanandan.