KOCHI: Police will invoke Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA) against the members of the two gangs who were involved in a fight that resulted in one person getting seriously injured in a gun fire at Perumbavoor the other day.
The decision to invoke KAAPA has been taken as part of a major operation by the police to hunt down all anti-social elements operating in the rural areas of the district. District police chief K Karthik told The New Indian Express that no leniency would be shown to those who resort to violence and anti-social activities.
"We are in the process of removing goons and anti-socials from the streets. Police will book KAAPA against the offenders. Five more persons have been taken into custody in connection with the incident," he said, while adding that a detailed probe was on to ascertain from where the accused got the fire arm.
In the backdrop of the incident, the police have decided to intensify its operations to nab those involved in anti-social activities. Though a drive was already in place to track history-sheeters under the provisions of KAAPA, the persons involved in the particular incident were not in the offenders' list of the police.
"We have been tracking the activities of all those who had a history of crime. Those involved in the crime do not have a major crime record. Most of them are new into the scene," said a senior officer. A police team led by Perumbavoor DSP K Bijimon is probing the incident.
Police said country-made guns and pistols were easily making their way into market and they suspect an organised network behind the supply of the guns to criminals operating in rural areas. "It seems illegal fire arms are easily available. A forensic analysis of the bullet shells recovered from the crime scene is on," the officer said.
The police seized a loaded pistol from a notorious criminal identified as Anseer aka Anas of Vengola, Perumbavoor in August 2019.
The district rural police have invoked KAAPA to put habitual offenders under preventive custody since 2019 (while 10 criminals were arrested and sent to jail, 23 people were deported from rural police limits). An anti-goonda drive named 'Operation Dark Hunt' was also launched to deal with criminals who were into extortion and drug-peddling.