Thiruvananthapuram (Keralam) [India], September 3 (ANI): Keralam Leader of Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday visited SFI state secretary PS Sanjeev at a hospital after he was injured during Wednesday's Secretariat march. Vijayan alleged that Sanjeev was brutally lathicharged and had injured his vital parts. The former CM slammed the police action calling it "police raj".
Speaking after the visit, Vijayan told reporters, "He has suffered injuries all over his body. He was beaten with lathis, deliberately targeting vital parts, and the assault was so severe that he was unable to speak properly immediately afterwards.
"But he was not the only one who was assaulted. The previous day, male police personnel brutally attacked female students. One student was beaten on the face and was left bleeding. Another was struck on the back of her head and collapsed unconscious. The police are not unaware of the consequences of such blows. This shows how brutally the protesters were treated," he alleged.
He further alleged widespread unjustified arrests and invocation of serious provisions against protesters.
"What we are seeing is an attempt to deal with ordinary democratic protests in Kerala through police raj. There are certain police personnel who have gained notoriety for such conduct, and it appears that such officers have been specifically deployed to handle protests in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram. This can only be seen as a deliberate approach. It is not just the violence. There have also been widespread arrests, many of them without any justification. The authorities are trying to invoke the most serious provisions of the law against protesters. Even people who participated in a protest are being booked under charges including attempt to murder," LoP Vijayan told reporters.
On Wednesday, the Students' Federation of India (SFI) staged a march to the Keralam Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, protesting the alleged police assault on its student leaders, including central committee member Arya Prasad and state secretariat member Vaishnavi Shaji, during a demonstration at Kerala University.
The protest comes a day after clash broke out during an SFI march to the University of Kerala, where the student organisation alleged that police personnel used excessive force against its members.
SFI has accused the police of brutally assaulting its activists and demanded action against those responsible for the alleged attack. The organisation said Prasad and Shaji sustained injuries during the demonstration and were subsequently hospitalised. (ANI)
"Beaten with lathis, targeting vital parts": Pinarayi Vijayan targets Congress govt after meeting injured SFI leader
