THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Cantonment police, which is probing the attack on the SBI treasury branch during the general strike called by Central trade unions, have identified five more Non-Gazetted Officers’ Union leaders who were among the attackers.
However, sources in the Cantonment police said they were yet to be traced.Ajay Kumar (Sales Tax), Sreevalsan (District Treasury), Anil Kumar (Civil Supplies), Biji Raj (Public Health Laboratory) and Suresh Babu (GST Office) were identified from visuals caught by security cameras in the bank.Of them, Suresh is the state-level leader of the union, while the rest are district-level leaders. Two more people seen in the footage are yet to be identified. The attack took place on January 9.
Meanwhile, the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Friday rejected the bail pleas of NGO Union Thiruvananthapuram district secretary Harilal and NGO union Thycadu area secretary Asokan, who were arrested in connection with the attack. Police sources said this might prompt the rest of the accused to surrender.
Highly-placed sources felt the five identified persons might move higher courts seeking anticipatory bail by depositing the amount corresponding to the losses the bank incurred in the attack. The Cantonment police’s report pegged the losses at `1.5 lakh.The police have already intimated the department heads of Harilal and Asokan and the duo will be suspended soon.City Police Commissioner S Surendran said the probe is heading in the right direction.
Cops pressured to go soft?
It has been learnt pressure is being exerted on the probe team to go soft on the five accused. “Certain senior police officers want us to soft pedal the probe and are pressuring the personnel,” said a mid-level officer who is part of the probe.
Cops’ attackers yet to be nabbed
With the furore over the attack on the SBI branch refusing to die down, a particular case – that of SFI activists attacking policemen at Palayam – has been pushed to oblivion.Though the attack took place almost a month ago, the two key accused, including the main culprit Nasim, the SFI University College leader, remain at large. The Cantonment police said Nasim was ‘untraceable’. However, sources said he has several criminal cases registered against him.
