KOCHI: The controversy surrounding a meeting recently convened by K Sudhakaran, MP in Kochi in support of Operation Toofan intensified on Tuesday, with the Congress leadership distancing itself from the event after another criminal accused was linked to the gathering.
Sources said Shibu, a Mattancherry native arrested in connection with the hammer attack on a man at a bar in Mattancherry on Monday, had also attended the meeting.
The attack reportedly followed an argument involving three men at the bar. During the altercation, Shibu allegedly assaulted the victim before the second accused, Shihab, struck him with a hammer, leaving the victim seriously injured.
The meeting had already sparked controversy after it emerged that Mattancherry Harris, an accused in several criminal cases, and Riyas, an accused in a gun-related case, were among those present.
The Ernakulam District Congress Committee (DCC) on Monday clarified that it had no role in organising the meeting and had not been informed about it. Congress leaders said the event was held without the knowledge of the district leadership.
As the controversy widened, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday asserted that no meeting had been officially convened in Kochi under the banner of Operation Toofan. He said meetings under the state's anti-narcotics campaign could be organised only by police officers.
Responding to reporters' questions about the gathering reportedly convened by former KPCC president K. Sudhakaran, Chennithala said he had no information about the meeting and was unaware of who had organised it or who had attended.
"Operation Toofan meetings are convened only by police officers. I have no information about the meeting mentioned in news reports. No meeting has been officially convened in Kochi in the name of Operation Toofan," Chennithala said.
