Kerala - Kollam   

Bid to hold DMO hostage

Staff Reporter

14 KSU activists arrested; employees condemn protest

KOLLAM: Tension prevailed at the Civil Station Complex here on Saturday morning when a group of Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists barged into the office of District Medical Officer Elizabeth John Zachaira and attempted to hold her hostage.

The KSU activists, numbering 15, entered the office with a memorandum demanding a high-level medical inquiry into an incident in which the right hand of a seven-year-old boy, Athul, allegedly got paralysed while undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital, Mayyanad. They alleged that wrong treatment was the cause of the development and that the medical personnel responsible for it should be punished.

Tension mounted when employees at the civil station rushed to the DMO's office. Some of them tussled with the student activists.

As the news spread, Government offices at the civil station came to a virtual standstill as more and more employees rushed out of their offices and came to the DMO's office.

Meanwhile, the police reached there. But when the employees saw that the police were not taking action against the activists, they turned their ire on the police. Soon the police arrested and removed the activists.

The police said 14 KSU activists were arrested and they would be produced before a court here on Sunday.

After the arrests, the employees held a demonstration outside the complex condemning the incident.

Federation of State Employees and Teachers secretary Basil Joseph, NGO Union leader V.P. Jayaprakash Menon, NGO Association leader Pratapasenan Pillai, Joint Council leader Sivadas, and Kerala Gazetted Officers Association leader Suresh Babu addressed the gathering.

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