BJP office attack: Two policemen suspended

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Two policemen were r suspended on Friday for their inaction during the attacks on the BJP state committee office on Thursday night. The attack was unleashed around midnight when BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan,  who was down with illness,  was present in the  office at Kunnukuzhy. A four-member team in police patrol vehicle was deployed here late night following mounting political tensions in the district. The CCTV footage showed three bikes racing past the patrol team and councillor  Binu and his aides getting down from the vehicles.

A lone policeman, Prathin Jayakumar, 33, of Museum station identified the councillor wielding a baseball bat and tried  to resist him. While one more unidentified cop made feeble attempts to stop the miscreants, two other policemen stood as mute witnesses.   The duo identified as Shyam and Akhilesh attached to the Kerala Armed Police-V were later suspended by IG (Thiruvananthapuram Range) Manoj Abraham.   The attackers vandalised six vehicles, including the Innova Crysta used by Mr Kummanam,  using granite blocks. They broke the window panes and attempted to destroy the CCTV cameras. While retreating,  Binu was stopped by Mr Jayakumar who was kicked on his abdomen and arms. He was admitted to Medical College Hospital.

The police  arrested four persons in connection with the incident. Apart from  Binu, the others  were identified as SFI district president Prathin Saj Krishna and SFI leader Sukesh and Jerin.   Binu was booked under non-bailable sections under IPC section 332 for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant in the discharge of duty.  They were also booked under IPC  section 427 for mischief causing damage and  section 441 for trespass. Binu  was suspended from his party which will hold an internal probe. Meanwhile city police commissioner Sparjan Kumar said that he would recommend a reward for police officer, Prathin Jayakumar for his action.