KOCHI: A political controversy is brewing over the suspension of a Traffic Sub Inspector who threw open a key road section in the middle of heavily congested Muvattupuzha town last week, soon after completion of tarring works there. The same has triggered a war of words between the Congress and the Left parties, with the latter terming the incident as an outcome of the “political drama” staged by Mathew Kuzhalnadan, MLA. Kuzhalnadan, however, denied the charges.
It all started on Friday when Traffic SI K P Siddique threw open the MC Road section from Kacherithazham to P O Junction for traffic, on the direction of the MLA.
This is even as only the first phase of tarring works got completed there. CPM area secretary Aneesh M Mathew lodged a complaint with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against Mathew Kuzhalnadan, even as the cop was placed on suspension for opening the road “without informing higher officials”.
“The police officer is a victim of the MLA’s political drama. It was on the direction of the MLA that the SI conducted the inauguration of the section even as the full works on the stretch are yet to be completed,” alleged Aneesh.
“The suspension was done by the police department after an inquiry. The SI in his explanation clearly says he acted on the direction of the MLA,” he told TNIE.
When contacted, Kuzhalnadan outrightly denied the charges, saying that in the first place no “inauguration” was carried out. However, he admitted that he had asked the SI to open the stretch for traffic. “I directed the police officer to open the section, where the tarring was completed. The opening of the two-lane section, a temporary measure, will ease traffic movement. An unnecessary controversy is being created,” he said.