Alleging breakdown of the law and order situation in the state citing the latest instance of the police remaining a mute spectator during a clash between two groups leading to the death of a person at Kadinamkulam near here, Opposition LDF members walked out of the Assembly on Thursday.
A permission sought by Mathew T Thomas (JD-S) to move an adjournment motion was turned down by the Speaker, after Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan maintained that the police had acted promptly and slapped cases against ten persons including a woman in connection with the incident. The minister’s stand that Mathew T Thomas has raised points not mentioned by V Sasi MLA (CPM), representing the area in the Assembly, led to an uproar from Opposition benches.
A submission was listed on the same issue in the name of Sasi for Thursday but was withdrawn on Wednesday night.
Opposition leader V S Achuthanandan charged that the minister was trying to insult the Opposition when issues of grave importance are being raised.
Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan said that all the accused will be arrested soon and the government is also considering giving financial aid to the family of Alden Antony, who was killed while trying to separate the two clashing groups.
He said that four persons including local priest Fr Babu were injured in the incident.
V Sasi pointed out that three persons had died in various violent incidents in the same coastal stretch in the past three months alone, which showed that the functioning of the police in the region was far from satisfactory.
Mathew T Thomas alleged that the Kazhakoottam Police Circle office, under which the Kadinamkulam station falls, is being controlled by ‘outside forces’ and this has resulted in a grave situation in the law and order front.
The role of the police in another incident the other day wherein a young woman was forcibly taken in an autorickshaw from Thangaserri near Kollam by two persons and dumped near Kallambalam after a few hours also came in for severe criticism.
Raising the issue through a submission, P K Gurudasan (CPM) demanded immediate action against the Kollam Town West SI, whom he alleged had mentally tortured the woman, after she was brought to the station. The Home Minister said that the City Police Commissioner will hold an inquiry and submit a report at the earliest.
A submission moved by P C Vishnunath (Cong) on the violence allegedly unleashed by SFI cadre in Thrissur Kerala Varma College against AISF activists infuriated the CPM MLAs, as he began lashing out at the ‘fascism’ espoused by the CPM student outfit.
He pointed out that Rajaji Mathew, a former MLA of the CPI and whose son was attacked and injured by the SFI cadre in the college, had strongly come out against the terror and violent politics of the latter. Remarks made by Vishnunath against the SFI cadre as ‘goons’ were removed from the records of the session, as Speaker acceded to the Opposition demand.