Case against Congress leaders in Kerala over violence in state capital

Kerala Police have registered a case against state Congress chief K. Sudhakaran, leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V.D. Satheesan and other senior leaders in connection with the violence in state capital Thiruvananthapuram during the party's march to the DGP office.

The capital witnessed incidents of violence on Saturday during protests organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), in which a battery of senior Congress leaders in Kerala, including senior MPs and MLAs, suffered from suffocation and some were even hospitalised after police fired tear gas shells.

A senior police official of the district told PTI on Saturday that the case was registered under various provisions of the IPC, including that of rioting, obstructing roads and preventing public servants from performing their duties, against all the leaders and party workers who took part in the protest.

Apart from Sudhakaran and Satheesan, the Museum police registered a case against MPs Shashi Tharoor, Kodikkunnil Suresh, Adoor Prakash, K. Muraleedharan and Jebi Mather, MLA Ramesh Chennithala and others.

"The meeting was almost over. At that time, the protesters started aggressively shaking the barricades after which we started spraying water... It seems like they got irritated due to the water spraying and started throwing stones. Then, we had to release the gas," the official said.

Around 300-400 people were there as part of the protest, the official said, adding that there were no reports of injuries. A few journalists suffered injuries during the stone-pelting, but none of them have officially complained to the police.

The march was organised by the KPCC alleging police atrocities against its workers during their agitation over the 'Nava Kerala Sadas' outreach programme of the Left government.

One of the tear gas shells blasted behind the stage from where the senior leaders were addressing the crowd resulted in discomfort to many, including Sudhakaran and Chennithala. Sudhakaran was later hospitalised.

While the Congress and UDF leaders alleged that it was a "premeditated attack" targeting their lives, the ruling CPI(M) and LDF justified the police action, saying it was the Opposition party activists who tried to create problems.