Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Three policemen injured in armed attack

Staff Reporter

Gang attack near Chennilode colony

ON THE RECEIVING END: Medical College CI Muhammad Bari being discharged from Medical College Hospital after treatment. — Photo: S. Gopakumar

Thiruvananthapuram: Three policemen, including two officials, were injured when an armed gang attacked them near Chennilode colony in Medical College police station limits on Wednesday night.

The injured officials were identified as Circle Inspector (CI) Muhammad Bari and Sub-Inspector (SI) V. Jayachandran. Bari suffered a deep cut under his chin and a twisted leg. Jayachandran, who sustained a blow to his head, was scanned for possible internal injuries at Medical College Hospital. A constable, Sunil Kumar, sustained only minor injuries in the violence.

The police got a distress call from a resident of Chennilode colony around 7.30 p.m. The caller, who identified himself as `Kottayam' Babu, said some criminal elements in the colony were "killing" his son, Praveen. A police party, headed by SI Jayachandran, rushed to the spot. The police saw Praveen lying on the road. He was badly bruised and bleeding. Praveen told the police that members of a gang headed by `Apachi' Baiju had beaten him up because he refused to comply with their constant demands for a share of his daily earnings.

The SI took Praveen in his vehicle and asked him to show the spot where the assailants could be hiding. The police party reached a ground near the colony. Around 50 youth were lurking there in the darkness. The SI said the four-member police team came under a hail of stones. The gang surrounded the police vehicle, pulled Praveen out of the van and beat him up for a second time in front of the officials.

The CI, who heard the SI's call on wireless for more policemen, rushed to the spot. The gang members, many of whom were armed with swords and machetes, attacked the police party led by the CI.

A resident of Chennilode said the members of the predominantly Dalit community in the colony were living in constant fear of criminal gangs who had made the area their base. The large coconut plantations near the colony had become the fiefdom of gangs dealing in ganja, hooch and buprenorphine, a pharmaceutical drug widely abused as a narcotic in the city.

The attack on Praveen was the fallout of a dispute between two groups of youth involved in the administration of the local temple. Praveen's father was a Left supporter and those responsible for the attack were United Democratic Front supporters, he said.

The police said they were investigating `Apachi' Baiju, Shibu and Kumaran, among others, in connection with the attack on the police.

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