Crime Branch’s clean chit for CM’s security officials

The Crime Branch (CB) which is probing the alleged assault on Youth Congress-Kerala Students Union activists by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s gunman and security officials during the Navakerala Sadas in Alappuzha last December has given them a clean chit.

In the final report submitted before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Alappuzha on Thursday, the CB stated that the police officers -- Anil Kumar and Sandeep -- were merely carrying out their professional responsibilities by preventing the two Youth Congress-KSU activists, Ajay Jewel Kuriakose and A.D. Thomas, from rushing towards the vehicle of the Chief Minister, who comes under Z-plus category security cover.

The Deputy Superintendent of the Crime Branch in Alappuzha submitted that the case may be removed from the file, by considering it a mistake of fact.

Fuming at the police’s move, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president K. Sudhakaran stated that the Crime Branch’s action of submitting a report exonerating the Chief Minister’s gunman and security personnel is a challenge to the rule of law. He said Youth Congress State secretary (Mr. Kuriakose) and KSU Alappuzha district president (Mr. Thomas) sustained serious injuries due to ‘police brutality.’ Videos of this incident are still available on social media.

“The assault, in which the Chief Minister’s security officials held them down and beat them, was witnessed by the public through visual media. That horrific scene has not faded from the collective memory of Kerala,” Mr. Sudhakaran alleged. Despite this, the CB, in its report, which is devoid of credibility, claimed that the videos could not be obtained, thereby protecting the accused security personnel. “The Congress will respond to this,” Mr. Sudhakaran added.

Published - October 04, 2024 09:08 pm IST