Battle erupts after three-day lull

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: If the capital city was peaceful, or rather lay deserted, for the past three days owing to two hartals with a holiday squeezed in between, on Tuesday, the situation presented a stark contrast, with stun grenades, water cannons and bricks ruling the streets.

 The city turned into a battleground yet again, following a violent clash between activists of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student outfit of the CPM, and the police. The clash occurred during a demonstration taken out by the SFI activists to the state’s administrative headquarters, the Secretariat, on Tuesday morning in protest against the alleged police atrocities led by Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajpal Meena on students during their agitation against petrol price rise last Friday. 


The demonstration was led by SFI state secretary P Biju and president K V Sumesh.  The march, in which about 200 students took part, turned violent when it reached the Secretariat, where the assembled police personnel tried to disperse the participants. The students tried to resist the police action, which gave way to a violent fight.  The police used water cannons to disperse the agitating students. SFI state committee member Shiju Khan was hospitalised after his inner ear was seriously damaged by the jet of water shot out of a water cannon at a furious speed. 

He was admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital (MCH) following the incident. Preman, the president of the SFI unit at Sanskrit College, was also admitted to the MCH after sustaining a serious head injury in the lathi-charge by the police. Besides Shiju Khan and Preman, six more students suffered injuries during the clash.  The battleground then shifted to the University College at Palayam. The students who were chased away from the Secretariat found shelter behind the walls of the college, from where they started to pelt stones and bricks at the police. 

The police, in retaliation, picked up the bricks and hurled them back into the college campus. They were even forced to use  stun grenades at the students in a desperate bid to suppress the agitation.  Finally, the two-hour-long clash ended following the intervention of SFI state committee leaders and senior police officers.  Meanwhile, injuries were reported on the police side also. As many as six officers, including Pettah Sub-Inspector Shajimon, were hurt in the stone- pelting by the students.  The Cantonment Police have registered two separate cases against the SFI activists, including SFI state secretary P Biju, Shiju Khan and district committee secretary Ben Darwin, in connection with the incident.