THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Youth Congress protest march to the Secretariat, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, turned violent on Saturday. Two Youth Congress workers, including a woman, were injured in the legs while a few policemen also suffered injuries.
The police had to use water cannons, tear gas and grenades to disperse the protesters. Later, the police also caned some workers. Youth Congress state president and MLA Shafi Parambil who led the protest said the police action was without any provocation. However, the workers threw stones and footwear at the police. The traffic on MG Road also came to standstill for nearly one-and-a-half hours in front of the Secretariat.
The protest march from the Martyr’s Column to the Secretariat started around 1.15pm.
When the march reached the north gate around 1.30pm, police personnel blocked them using barricades. The Youth Congress activists, numbering around 300, led by Shafi Parambil, MLA M Vincent and K S Sabarinadhan, tried to jump over the barricades. The agitation became unruly after a few activists started hurling stones at the police personnel, prompting the latter to use water cannons and lob tear-gas shells. While most of the activists fled the scene, some persisted with their attempts to remove the barricades. Following this, the police used grenades as well.
“Pinarayi’s police are on an attacking spree. The police adopted high-handedness and attacked the protesters. The protest will not subside even if the police resort to such violent measures to suppress it,” Shafi said.