KOCHI: In what seems to be an emergence of police brutality in the state amid the Covid-19 lockdown, the staffer of a Kaloor-based firm was beaten up by officers of Aroor police station on Thursday.Shaijan Joseph, the driver of Eben Telecom, a call centre provider for leading companies such as Vodafone and Idea, was trashed by the police when he went to hand over a computer to one of the firm’s staff at Aroor.
“A police jeep stopped Shaijan at Aroor and the driver of the Aroor police station came out and smashed the side-view mirror (wing mirror) of our vehicle. The shattered glass hit Shaijan’s eyes. The officer then asked Shaijan to come out of the vehicle,” said Sam Thomas, managing director, Eben Telecom.
“Though Shaijan showed all the documents, including his ID card, the self-declaration form and the request typed on the telecom firm’s letterhead, the policeman did not listen and hit Shaijan below the knee with a rod. He also threw away the documents,” he said.
“Though telecom has been declared an essential service during the lockdown, the police paid no heed,” he said. Shaijan was taken to the Aroor police station.
Thomas then contacted Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden and Aroor MLA Shanimol Osman, who then talked to the SI.“After an hour, the police released Shaijan on personal bail after registering a case,” said Thomas who termed police action “atrocious and against all laws.”When contacted, a police official with the station said the driver did not possess the certificates required and also did not leave the vehicle. “We had to force him to come out. The mirror broke during the process,” said the officer.
However, Thomas said the police were cooking up a story. “I have know Shaijan for a long time and I can safely say that he will never behave rudely, as the police claim,” he said.