Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala to adopt stringent action over the alleged “orchestrated” attack by Youth Congress workers and the police at the University Hostel in Thiruvananthapuram. In a letter to the Home Minister, the CPI(M) veteran alleged that the decision by the Youth Congress to commence its march from the hostel premises instead of its usual protest venues was a deliberate attempt to provoke violence. He claimed that a group of 200 people surrounded the hostel carrying weapons including machetes, stones and beer bottles, and hurled flaming torches at the premises.
He also alleged that despite the available video footage showing Youth Congress workers, including its district president, throwing stones towards the hostel, neither the organisation’s leadership nor the police intervened to stop them.
According to Mr. Vijayan, the situation escalated when police allegedly entered the hostel by breaking open the gate without the warden’s permission, ostensibly to restore order, and assaulted Students’ Federation of India (SFI) activists. He also alleged that SFI State secretary P.S. Sanjeev, who had reached the spot to calm the students on the instructions of senior police officers, was beaten by the police.
Besides, three students suffered serious head injuries, while nearly 40 others were assaulted. He also alleged that an ambulance carrying injured students was stopped by the attackers. Mr. Vijayan also criticised the police for allegedly failing to invoke non-bailable provisions under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property (PDPP) Act against Youth Congress leaders who are accused of damaging public property, while registering cases under non-bailable provisions against CPI(M) leaders Kadakampally Surendran and V. Joy for protesting against the alleged police excesses.
