Assault on teacher was preplanned, says Pinarayi

Saturday, October 01, 2011: CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan today opined that the brutal assault on the 47-year-old school teacher (Krishnakumar) by a gang of unidentified persons in Valakom was preplanned.

Speaking to the reporters after visiting Krishnakumar who is under treatment in Medical college hospital here, Pinarayi added that the ongoing investigation process was not at all satisfactory.

Meanwhile the statement of the school teacher has been recorded by Magistrate AM Ashraf on Saturday. The school teacher’s statement was video graphed and the Magistrate also collected the details from Kottarakkara Dy SP, who is probing the incident.

The condition of the school teacher has improved slightly. The hospital authorities informed that Krishnakumar has regained his consciousness and is showing improvement in his health condition.

Krishnakumar is a teacher in RVVHS School owned by the family of former state minister and Kerala Congress (B) leader R Balakrishna Pillai, who is now serving one year imprisonment in a corruption case.

Police said Krishnakumar was found in a serious condition on the roadside at Valakam near Kottarakkara in Kollam district late last night.

Krishnakumar’s wife Geetha, who is also a teacher in the same school, alleged that her husband has, of late, been not on good terms with the school management.

Locals told police they saw Krishnakumar being thrown out of a white car at night and later lying in a pool of blood. Krishnakumar was first taken to Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital, but doctors there referred him to MCH.

Kottarakkara DYSP K.M. Anto said Krishnakumar was seen at Nilamel Junction at 10 pm while returning from Kadakkal.

“He was possibly attacked elsewhere and dropped at MLA Junction,” he said, adding, “We have registered an attempted murder case.”

Krishnakumar is involved in a running battle with the school management and is the prime witness in a vigilance case against it for irregularities. His wife Geetha became headmistress of the school after winning a court case against the management.

He had recently lodged a complaint that he was getting death threats from the management, but police denied it, sources said. Meanwhile, Pillai’s son and forest minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar said he had no connection with the school.