Police taking pro-active role in Kannur?

By Mohamed Nazeer

KANNUR, APRIL 6.

Is the district police headed to a pro-active role in dealing with culprits behind the incidents of political violence in the traditionally volatile areas of the district?

The incident of the police opening fire to disperse a violent CPI(M) mob at Chundangapoil, between Thalassery and Koothuparamba, on Thursday and the ongoing extensive raids on suspected places in search of explosives as well as trouble- makers are indicative of a new police disposition to put the heat on culprits belonging to the rival political parties engaged in violence, much to the chagrin of the party establishments.

The sporadic incidents of violence and bomb explosions in areas under the Thalassery, Dharmadam and Koothuparamba police station limits over the past two weeks have left the police with no option but to chase the culprits in hot pursuit. The police and the district administration have been seized of the gravity of the situation if the criminalised political workers in the area are allowed to be still at large with the Assembly elections round the corner.

The police not only opened fire on the CPI(M) mob that attacked police personnel with bombs at Chundangapoil, the SP, Mr. Manoj Abraham, who headed the police party, also made it known that any attempt to attack the police would be dealt with sternly no matter which political party the culprits belonged to. The police would fire directly at the trouble-makers if they dared to attack the police, he said.

Expectedly, the police were flayed by the district CPI(M) establishment. In a statement, the CPI(M) district secretary, Mr. E.P. Jayarajan, condemned the police firing at Chundangapoil stating that the action was against the police policy of the LDF Government and intended to malign the Government. He said the five CPI(M) workers arrested in connection with the incident were brutally beaten up by the police in a police vehicle under the instruction of top police officials in the district. The CPI(M) workers in the area were defending themselves from the attacks by BJP-RSS workers, he said.

Mr. Manoj Abraham told The Hindu that political criminals could not be dealt with effectively unless the police took a pro-active role. "Once we started firing, those instigators of violence were running for life," he said adding that the assertive action on the part of the police also raised the morale of the personnel. Asked whether the police are concerned about the law and order situation in the district ahead of the election, the SP said he was confident that the ongoing law and order measures and continuing raids would deliver the desired results.

The police are continuing their raids on suspected places in the sensitive areas in search of weapons, especially bombs which are reportedly being stockpiled by the rival party workers. The SP said a platoon of paratroopers belonging to the Special Task Force of the State police, two companies of the State Rapid Action Force and one company of the KAP, two bomb squads, including sniffer dogs, were now engaged in the combing operation.

Raids are also being conducted to nab absconding known trouble- makers whose names figure in the list of 400-odd party workers who have been issued warrants by the District Collector under Section 107 of the Cr.PC for preventive arrest.

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