Kannur violence: Police denies harassment during raids

Kannur: Political violence continues in Kannur in the wake of the murder of a CPM leader and a BJP worker recently, though the police have conducted a series of raids to nab the suspects and trouble-makers.

In the latest incident, miscreants attacked the house of Kuthuparamba block panchayat president A. Asokan early on Saturday. Asokan was targeted several times earlier after he left the BJP and joined the CPM in January 2014 and was having police protection. He was working to strengthen the CPM in Cheruvanchery area.

Asokan's guard, Ranjith, suffered injuries on his legs and was admitted to a hospital here. Police registered a case against 20 BJP/RSS workers. Top officials, including the district police chief, visited Asokan's house and assured him of police protection.

The attack occurred ahead of the visit of CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to lay the foundation stone of a local committee office on October 24.

The police claim to have taken strong measures in Kannur to prevent the recurrence of violence. From July to September, 120 cases were registered in the district and 223 arrests were made. They also identified 662 accused in a span of three months.

The BJP leaders, however, say that they are scared even to submit any complaints at the police stations due to the police high-handedness.

There were also complaints from the families of CPM workers that the police were harassing them in the guise of raids.

District police chief Sanjay Kumar Gurudin said that the police were only conducting investigations and trying to arrest the accused. "It is true that police go for verification in a few houses, but they are the houses of the suspects. No innocent person will be arrested or harassed in any way. If there are any such complaints, I will take corrective measures," he said.

Mr Gurudin dismissed the allegations that the people feared to approach police stations. "They need to fear only if they have done something wrong. Even if they have a problem at a lower level, they are free to approach higher offices of the CI, DySP, SPs or even the IG. The public are expected to cooperate with the investigation rather than creating hindrances," he added.

Meanwhile, there have been hate campaigns against Mr Gurudin for taking strong action against party activists. WhatsApp messages are spreading clamouring for his removal.