Arrest of lensman may backfire on vaccine drive

MALAPPURAM: The arrest of a person who was not directly involved in the attack on the medical team during the MR vaccination campaign in a school at Edayur here, is likely to hit the campaign in

Kuttippuram

and Valanchery region.

On Friday, Valanchery police arrested three persons in connection with the attack on a medical team at

Athippatta GLP School

in Edayur. However, protest is brewing among local residents against medical authorities and police as many social and political organizations in Kuttippuram have alleged that the arrest of

Faisal Babu

, who was present at the school at the time of the incident, was unnecessary. The police action was to pacify medical organizations that protested demanding immediate arrest of the culprits, they alleged.

Faisal is reportedly a photographer with a local media firm and was assigned to cover the MR vaccination campaign at the school. Shyamala Bhai, the nurse who was attacked, has requested police to exclude

Faisal

from the list of accused. But police have already imposed non-bailable charges against Faisal, who is the ninth accused in the case.

Salam Valanchery

, municipal general secretary of

Indian Union Muslim League

(IUML), said the arrest has badly affected the pro-vaccination campaign in the region and the arrested person was a strong supporter of the drive. “We organized many camps in support of the vaccination successfully in the past one month. But after the arrest, even the supporters of the campaign have turned against the medical authorities and police,” he said.

VP M

Salih

of

Cheguvera Cultural Forum

in Valanchery, who is an active campaigner in support of the vaccination said now the anti-vaccination, group is exploiting the situation after the arrest. “Earlier we planned pro-vaccination campaigns in madrassas and mosques in the coming days. But, the arrest has made the situation not favourable in the area,” he said.

According to a source with the district medical administration, the medical authorities have already requested to exclude the person from the list of accused. The vaccination rate in Kuttippuram and Valanchery region is only around 40%.

“The local protest against the police action is likely to make the volatile situation in the region more complicated and it will lead to further dip in the vaccination rate in the area,” the source said.

Meanwhile, the arrest of main accused of the attack case is delaying indefinitely.

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