The State capital has been put on high alert following the violent demonstrations that have unfolded in the city since the arrival of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from Kannur on Monday amid heightened tensions over the fresh allegations raised by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the UAE diplomatic channel gold smuggling case.
The alleged attack on Indira Bhavan, the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) headquarters, has prompted the police to intensify surveillance and boost police presence outside the offices of political parties.
Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner G. Sparjan Kumar said patrolling had been increased across the 21 police station limits in the city.
Additional reinforcements are likely to be deployed with the Chief Minister scheduled to attend official functions. The police are, however, yet to take a call on preventing demonstrations by political parties under the existing circumstances.
Mr. Vijayan’s arrival at the domestic terminal of the Thiruvananthapuram International Airport around 5 p.m. coincided with a pitched battle between Youth Congress workers and the police roughly 300 metres away.
While the protesters managed to topple two rows of barricades that were stacked across a byroad leading to the airport, the police used water cannons at them nearly five times. It failed to dissuade the protesters from advancing, and the police fired several tear gas shells and grenades at them. The agitators, numbering nearly a hundred, most of whom wore black shirts, hurled sticks and pipes at the police.
The use of such riot control agents created hardships for citizens in the residential area with some voicing complaints. Sarayu R. Pereira criticised the police after she and her 78-year-old mother developed breathing problems after a canister landed on her compound.
Around 400 police personnel, including several Assistant Commissioners and Circle Inspectors, were stationed along the 11-km route from the airport to Cliff House, the Chief Minister’s official residence, to prevent any security scares. Nonetheless, Youth Congress and Yuva Morcha workers managed to evade the police glare to wave black flags near the General Hospital and other locations as Mr. Vijayan’s convoy passed by.
Tension prevailed late into the night as Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers took out a march to the Secretariat in protest against the demonstrations organised against the government. They tore several posters erected by the Congress in the area.
Later, the Youth Congress organised another demonstration at Sasthamangalam shortly after the alleged attempt to vandalise Indira Bhavan. The police lathicharged the agitators while they attempted to take out a march to the office of Vattiyurkavu MLA V.K. Prasanth. The activists destroyed flags and flex boards of the CPI(M). It sparked a tensed face-off between the rival groups. Minor clashes were also reported at Kazhakuttom, Powdikonam and Valiyasala.
