Thiruvananthapuram police booked 160 people on Thursday following late-night political clashes on Wednesday. Protests spread across Kerala as DYFI workers held black flag demonstrations against ministers. Ex-minister Kadakampally Surendran said, "The police even caught school students, who were carrying SFI's flags, by their collar." No arrests were made yet.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after late-night political clashes rocked the state capital, the clashes and violence have spread across the state with protests against ministers in different districts. DYFI workers took out black flag protests against Youth Affairs Minister O J Janeesh in different parts of Kasaragod.
Meanwhile, the Thiruvananthapuram City police booked 160 people -- 80 each from the Youth Congress and SFI camps -- on Thursday in two separate cases in the late-night confrontation that occurred in the state capital on Wednesday.
While the accused from the Congress camp include its Thiruvananthapuram district president Nemom Shajeer and KSU district committee president Gopu Neyyar, both the FIRs include 75 identifiable members from each of the outfits.
However, no arrests were made on Thursday. Although neither FIR clearly states which group initiated the attack, similar charges have been registered against both parties, including damage to public property and obstruction of a public way.
Storming protests took place across different parts of the state in response to the police action by CPM, SFI, and DYFI. However, no police action was largely initiated against the protestors.
The protest march organised by CPM from the Martyrs' Column to the secretariat here on Thursday evening was attended by senior leaders including K K Shailaja, V Joy, Kadakampally Surendran, C S Sujatha, among others. The SFI protest at the secretariat was inaugurated by SFI state secretary P S Sanjeev. The protesters also burned the flags of KSU.
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Ex-minister Kadakampally Surendran alleged that the police even caught school students, who were carrying SFI's flags, by their collar and asked if they carried black flags too with them. Even after major protest demonstrations took place, police officers were spotted across different parts of the capital city to prevent a major law and order issue here. The incident began on Wednesday night, when the Youth Congress members were staging a protest march against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar from the Palayam LMS Junction.
The Congress protesters and SFI hostellers had moments of friction, after which stones, beer bottles, and torches were thrown by both sides. The crowd was dispersed following the arrival of key leaders of both camps, including Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan, V Joy, K K Shailaja, and others from the CPM, and Abin Varkey and Sudheersha Palode from Congress.
In their protest staged before the secretariat in the evening, SFI members were also seen beating cops with flags and making derogatory remarks. This took place nearly one hour after CPM Thiruvananthapuram district secretary V Joy announced that the day's protests had come to an end.