The Hindu : SFI-police clash leaves many hurt

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 05, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

SFI-police clash leaves many hurt

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 4. Several persons, including, students, policemen and television crew members, were injured when police and Student Federation of India (SFI) activists clashed in front of the Armed Reserve Camp at Nandavanam on Wednesday evening.

The violence occurred at around 6 p.m. when 32 SFI activists, detained at the camp, attempted to escape from police custody. The activists were among the 50-odd students taken into custody after the police broke up an SFI-Akhila Bharatha Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) clash in front of the Medical College Hospital (MCH) casualty at 4 p.m. The trouble broke out when CPI(M) leaders led by the Mayor, J. Chandra, and the CPI(M) district secretary, M. Vijayakumar, arrived at the camp gate and demanded that they be allowed to see the detained students.

On learning that their leaders were being denied entry into the camp, the SFI activists attempted to break out of the camp by scaling the walls and forcibly opening the gate, police said.

At the time of the incident, the camp gate was briefly opened to allow a police bus inside. The activists seized this opportunity to break free. A street fight broke out when policemen tried to prevent their escape. Both police and SFI workers pelted stones at each other. The students also staged a brief dharna on the road in front of the camp. The windscreen of a KSRTC bus was damaged in the pelting of stones.

Soon, a `striker unit' led by the City Police Commissioner, Rajan Singh, reached the spot and resorted to caning to disperse the SFI workers. Six students, who attempted to escape from the camp, were rounded up by the police. The detained activists included the Kerala University Union chairman, Ben Darwin, and Binesh Kodiyeri, son of the CPI(M) legislative party deputy leader, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

Meanwhile, a car carrying India Vision camera crew had entered the Armed Reserve Camp by tailing a police bus. The cameraman, Biju Muraleedharan, who was filming the skirmish was singled out and beaten allegedly by a policeman in plainclothes.

The cameramen of Jeevan Television and Asianet were also among those injured in the scuffle. The DIG (Thiruvananthapuram Range), Arun Kumar Sinha, who reached the spot ordered a departmental enquiry into the incident. The police have sought video-footage of the incident to identify the accused.

Earlier, the SFI-ABVP clash in front of the MCH casualty resulted in injuries to several patients, bystanders and policemen. The fight broke out at around 4 p.m, the time when visitors are allowed into the hospital wards. The police who attempted to break the fight were attacked with stones and sticks.

As many as 50 students, including SFI and ABVP workers, were rounded up from the spot by the police. When contacted, a senior official said that a fight between two students of the Sree Chitra Engineering College over a girl had snowballed into a major standoff between SFI and ABVP activists in the city.

Police said the fight had occurred on Wednesday morning between Mithun of the ABVP and Shyam of the SFI. The fight soon escalated into a skirmish between ABVP and SFI activists on the campus. As many as 15 students, most of them SFI activists, were injured in the campus violence. Several of them were admitted at the Medical College Hospital.

At around 3.30 p.m., SFI and DYFI activists gathered in front of the MCH casualty and roughed up some ABVP workers. Soon, the groups mustered their cadre over mobile phones from different college campuses in the city and a fight ensued in front of the MCH casualty.

In a statement here, the SFI alleged that the police had `brutalised' the detained students at the Nandavanam camp and while they were being transported in police vehicles. The Museum police have registered a case of rioting, unlawful assembly, escape from lawful custody and assault of public servants against SFI workers and some CPI(M) leaders in this connection.

Tension in city

Meanwhile, a tense situation was prevailing in the city following the violence. A Government vehicle belonging to the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) was set on fire by persons suspected to be SFI activists, near Vellayambalam, late on Wednesday night. None were injured in the incident. The fire was doused by Fire Engines from the Chakka Fire Force station.

Meanwhile, police have been deployed in strength in the city to prevent any further untoward incident.

Policeman suspended

The Deputy Inspector General of Police (Thiruvananthapuram Range), Arun Kumar Sinha, has placed Shaji, a police constable attached to the Nandavanam Armed Reserve camp, under suspension pending inquiry.

Official sources said that Shaji was suspended on grounds of `official misconduct' in connection with the alleged assault of mediapersons in front of the camp on Wednesday evening.

SFI calls for

boycott of classes

The SFI has called for a boycott of classes at all educational institutions in the district on Thursday in protest against the police action against SFI workers in the city.

A press release by the SFI has demanded an `independent inquiry' into the beating up of students at the Nandavanam Armed Reserve police camp.

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