KOTTAYAM: A day after Nobel Prize-winner Michael Levitt, was detained by the supporters of the general strike in Alappuzha, the state government has taken damage control measures by taking steps to cool down the atmosphere. Apart from arresting four persons in connection with the incident, Kottayam District Collector P K Sudheer Babu met Levitt at Kumarakom and expressed the grief and concern of the state government as per the direction of the state Chief Secretary Tom Jose.
Meanwhile, responding to mediapersons Levitt said he had no complaints with regard to the bad experience he faced from the supporters of the general strike. “Lakes and backwaters in Kerala are wonderful and people are very good. Everything is beautiful,” he said.
Collector Sudheer Babu said he spoke to Levitt on behalf of the government and said the incident was extremely unfortunate. “I expressed the government’s concern and grief over the incident and Levitt has accepted this as well. Levitt said he made a response over the incident on the basis of the initial shock, since he was informed that tourism sector was excluded from the general strike,” Babu said.
According to sources close to Levitt, he and his wife, were on a private visit and had sought privacy all along the stay. However, the bad experience at the backwaters broke his privacy provoking him to come up with a harsh response by sending an email to his tour operator. Later, Levitt went to Kochi winding up his visit in Kumarakom.