Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Move to take the sting off street agitations

Thiruvananthapuram: In a bid to blunt the zeal of violent street agitators, the police will devise a fast-track mechanism to identify, arrest, and charge sheet those responsible for destruction of public property and attack on law-enforcers within one month of the occurrence of the crime.

Official sources said the proposed method is based on various judgements of the High Court of Kerala and the Supreme Court.

The courts had repeatedly directed the police to fix responsibility and recover damages caused to public property during strikes. Such directions seemed to have remained only on paper till now.

The police rarely pursued cases relating to destruction of public property, rioting and attack on law-enforcers quoting ‘political pressure' as an impediment.

Scores of such cases were pending in police stations. In most cases, the police had not filed charge sheets in courts pleading inability to identify the real suspects.

Successive governments consistently withdrew such cases registered against their activists citing shoddy prosecution. A Deputy Superintendent of Police will be tasked to monitor the progress of the cases and aid the prosecution.

The police will prepare a list of persons who repeatedly figured as accused in rioting cases and initiate security proceedings against them under section 107 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Such persons will have to execute a bond before the Revenue Divisional Officer stating that he or she will not indulge in any further breach of public peace.

The suspects are liable to be arrested in the event of violation of the bond.

The police will instruct Station House Officers to identify the rioters in the cases registered.

Those who issued strike calls, which result in destruction of public property and attack on police, will also be named as accused in such cases.

Law-enforcers will use video recordings and photographs of street violence as evidence against rioters in courts.

An officer will assess the quantum of damage caused to the State and move the court to recover the cost from the perpetrators.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Chandy to seek nod for tribunal Bill
Price hike: Chandy hopes to reduce impact
Protest against hike in fuel prices
Engineering rank list: marks data published
State to seek price stability fund
LDF order on land assignment annulled
Bridge proposed at Sabarimala
SCTIMST to foray into rural health
Civic body to seek NGOs' support
Reading week concludes
Move to take the sting off street agitations
Man held
In Thiruvananthapuram Today

Copyright © 2011, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu