A Congress MLA in Kerala alleges that senior police officers tampered with the report concerning his assault during the Nava Kerala Sadas event, prompting a reinvestigation.
Congress MLA from Alappuzha, A D Thomas, who was allegedly assaulted by gunmen of then CM Pinarayi Vijayan during the 2023 Nava Kerala Sadas, on Saturday, claimed that senior police officers intervened to modify the report prepared in connection with the incident.
Thomas said an officer in the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) was involved in this. He didn't reveal the officer's name.
However, his colleague and Youth Congress leader Ajay Kuriakose, who was also allegedly assaulted in the incident, claimed that he came to know through news reports that it was ADGP M R Ajithkumar.
Both of them were speaking to reporters before giving their statements with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the government to probe the incident.
Thomas and Kuriakose said that the SIT should look into the aspect of the alleged intervention by the senior police officer to modify the initial report prepared by the Crime Branch.
They also said that 4-5 gunmen of the then CM Vijayan had assaulted them, but only two were named as accused and demanded action against all of them.
The UDF government, on May 19, constituted the seven-member SIT headed by Superintendent of Police A P Shoukathali to complete the reinvestigation in the assault case and submit a report within a month.
The move came a day after the state's first Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister V D Satheesan, decided to order a reinvestigation into the case regarding the incident that occurred during the Nava Kerala Yatra of the then LDF government.
Satheesan had said that when the case came to the court, it had rejected the prosecution's arguments and ordered a reinvestigation.
He alleged that despite the court order, the previous government had failed to act on it for more than a year.
The CM had said that the government was only implementing the court's directive, but added, "We do not forget anything".
The alleged incident had led to strong protests by the Congress both inside and outside the Assembly at the time, accusing the then CPI(M)-led government of stifling the voice of the people against the government.
The Nava Kerala Sadas was an outreach programme conducted by the Left government in 2023 and had invited widespread protests from the Congress, its youth and student outfits, which had waved black flags at then chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his entourage.