Action against police officers UDF’s vendetta politics: CPM

Thiruvananthapuram: CPM has come out against the suspension of police officers who had beaten up Youth Congress and KSU workers for protesting against former chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan during Nava Kerala Yatra. The CPM state secretariat in a statement said such actions were politically motivated and the UDF govt should immediately stop settling political scores.

The statement said that the retaliatory actions launched immediately after the UDF govt assumed office must be stopped at once. Action against police officers who carried out their duties by preventing those who tried to attack the vehicle carrying the chief minister and other ministers is part of this. When govts change, using such matters for political vendetta is wholly inappropriate, the statement said.

“One may politically disagree with the Nava Kerala Sadas and the LDF govt, and there can be democratic protests. The decision on Z-category security for the CM is not made by the state govt. When the new govt took over, it decided that only a pilot and escort were sufficient. Later, Z-category security was arranged on the intelligence bureau’s recommendation,” the statement said.

Recent incidents in Thiruvananthapuram show how the state govt was also deploying police with political motives. After the Kerala University union election victory, SFI’s celebratory march was attacked by KSU members. Instead of driving away the attackers, SFI activists were brutally beaten and cases were filed against them.

None of the promises the UDF govt said it would implement immediately after assuming office has been carried out yet. Those who went around claiming that the treasury was empty have fallen silent after it emerged that around Rs 6,000 crore is available in the treasury, the statement said.