Kerala Youth Congress's march against arrest of its state prez turns violent

Thiruvananthapuram: A protest march organised by Youth Congress activists, expressing their discontent over the arrest of their state president, Rahul Mamkootathil, turned into violence in front of the Secretariat on Wednesday.

Mamkootathil was arrested by police from his house in Pathanamthitta on early Tuesday morning for allegedly leading violent attacks during a recent march. A court had rejected his bail plea and remanded him to judicial custody later.

The police today deployed water cannons multiple times to disperse protesters attempting to breach a barricade placed in front of the Secretariat complex, the administrative hub in the heart of the capital city.

As Youth Congress workers persisted in exchanging heated words with police and attempted to dismantle the barricade, water cannons were utilised to clear the protesters from the area.

Subsequently, the protestors sat on the road, raising slogans against both the police and the LDF government in the state.

Earlier, inaugurating the protest march, Shafi Parambil MLA criticised the police and said that they were acting like 'servants' of the Left government and party leaders.

The southern state witnessed widespread protests on Tuesday following the arrest of Mamkootathil who was held in connection with a Secretariat march organised last month to highlight alleged atrocities against Youth Congress workers during the state government's Nava Kerala Sadas programme led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The court here remanded Mamkootathil in judicial custody till January 22, after considering a medical report that indicated he had no major health issues.