Five police personnel suspended over assault during Nava Kerala Yatra

T’puram/Kottayam: Five police personnel, including former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s gunman, were suspended on Tuesday in connection with the assault on KSU and Youth Congress activists during Nava Kerala Yatra in Alappuzha in 2023. Orders suspending them were issued from the state police headquarters.

Those suspended are Anil Kumar, who served as Vijayan’s gunman for nearly 25 years, and escort team members Sandeep P, Arun, Vipin and Shaiju. The action comes after a special investigation team (SIT) led by Alappuzha SP Shoukathali submitted a report following a reprobe.

The SIT report said the situation did not warrant the intervention of the gunmen to deal with the protesters. The report reportedly termed the assault a criminal act and recommended that charges, including attempt to murder, be invoked against the accused personnel.

The incident took place on the evening of Dec 5, 2023, near the Alappuzha General Hospital Junction, when KSU district president A D Thomas and Youth Congress state secretary Ajay Juel Kuriakose staged a protest in front of the Nava Kerala Yatra bus carrying the chief minister and his fellow cabinet members. The SIT report stated that the gunman and members of the escort team jumped out of the chief minister’s escort vehicle and assaulted the protesters. Thomas was elected from the Alappuzha constituency in the recently held assembly elections.

Court rejects bail plea

Alappuzha district sessions court rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Anil Kumar and P Sandeep on Tuesday.

Judge Honey M Varghese dismissed the petition, noting that no non-bailable charges were invoked against the accused and that the situation did not demand denial of bail.

The court also accepted the request to implead Thomas and Kuriakose as parties in the case. While hearing the plea, the court criticised both the prosecution and SIT for delaying the submission of a report in response to the anticipatory bail application, which was filed on May 22.

When the matter first came up on Tuesday morning, the public prosecutor sought more time to file the police report, but the court proceeded to hear the petitioners' counsel. Lawyer B Shivadas argued that the petitioners merely carried out VVIP duty and that, if they had not acted, even the chief minister's life could have been at risk. Youth Congress counsel P Roy opposed this, stating that the attack occurred after the Nava Kerala Sadas bus passed by and that it was a deliberate assault.

The court later asked which sections were invoked against the accused and the lawyers informed that they were bailable provisions. The court again demanded the report and sharply reprimanded the investigation team for not producing it, summoning an officer from the team and directing that the report be submitted when the case was taken up again. When the matter was heard post-lunch, the bail plea was dismissed.

Further action based on SIT’s findings: CM

Chief minister V D Satheesan said in New Delhi that further action would be based on SIT’s findings and clarified that the process was not politically motivated. He said the inquiry report related to alleged intervention by ADGP Ajith Kumar would be examined. The demand for action against ADGP Ajith Kumar would be looked into and an appropriate decision would be taken, he said.