ALAPPUZHA:Various youth organisations including DYFI and AIYF staged a protest march to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre here at Punnamada after the death of a trainee at the Centre. The activists reached the Centre located in an island near Punnamada, in a country boat. The North Police swung into action and had made security arrangements at the Centre after an intelligence alert issued by Special Branch that youth and political organisations will head towards the Centre. The activists damaged some of the equipment inside the compound of SAI. The police prevented the protestors from gaining access to the SAI office. The leaders of the organisations allege that the authorities had been torturing trainees at the Centre. Many of the students are tight-lipped and unwilling to disclose the story of torture due to the fear of being shown the door. SAI is the only hope of hundreds of talented students from the suburbs and other parts of the state. Most of the students hail from impoverished backgrounds and silently suffer the torture of the trainers, said Ajesh, a DYFI leader. Shaji, a local resident of Punnamada said that some trainers even go to the extent of hitting students with oars at times, but students dont reveal the details of the brutal treatment meted out to them fearing coaches and other officials, he said.