Thiruvananthapuram: Hours after the Kerala government came under attack over police 'high-handedness' against the mother of the late Jishnu Pranoy, state police chief Loknath Behra said he understood the pain of a mother who lost her son.
DGP Behera said some people with no relation to Jishnu's family were behind the untoward incidents which took place in front of the police headquarters on Wednesday morning.
He said he met Jishnu's mother Mahija at the hospital, where she has been admitted to following police assault, and listened to her complaints. Mahija and her brother were admitted to the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital after they complained of uneasiness and body pain.
The DGP met Mahija at the hospital on the chief minister's directives.
"The police will take all actions which would bring solace to Jishnu's mother," he said in a press release.
Behera said he was waiting at the police headquarters to meet Jishnu's mother when the clashes took place.
"As a high-security zone, protests are not allowed in front of the police headquarters. Citing this, we had requested Jishnu's family to drop the plan for the strike. Even this morning, police officials had met Jishnu's relatives and agreed to make an appointment with the DGP. The police also said that six people would be allowed to meet the police chief. However, they wanted 15 people to be allowed to meet the DGP. When the police refused to do so citing security reasons, they said they should be arrested and removed from the place. Some outsiders caused the violent situation,” Behera said.
Listing out the measures taken as part of the probe, Behera said the police have done their best right from the beginning of the case. He said a special investigation team, headed by IPS officer Kiran Narayan, has been constituted and the senior-most special prosecutor has been allotted to handle the legal procedure as requested by the bereaved family.
Jishnu, a first year student of the Nehru College of Engineering in Thrissur, was found hanging in the college hostel in January following alleged harassments by college authorities.
High drama
The state capital witnessed high drama in front of the DGP's office as police evicted Jishnu's parents from the site and arrested them without letting them meet the DGP on Wednesday.
The arch rival BJP and Congress joined ranks to take on the CPM-led government after the late 18-year-old student's parents, seeking to sit on a hunger-strike in front of the state police chief's office here were dragged away from the site and arrested.
Mahija and Ashokan, parents of Jishnu, had come here from Kozhikode to sit on an indefinite fast against the alleged delay in booking of all the accused in connection with their son's death.
Jishnu's maternal uncle alleged the police kicked him and assaulted his sister Mahija.
Hartal called
The incident took a political turn, with various parties, including the Congress-led UDF and the BJP condemning the incident and calling for a state-wide hartal on Thursday.
Reacting to the incident, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a group of persons other than the family members had tried to gain entry to the DGP's office, which resulted in a commotion and the mother fell on the road.
A self-styled godman was also among them, he said.
However, he said IGP Manoj Abraham has been asked to give a report on what exactly had happened.
VS calls DGP
Expressing his displeasure, CPM veteran V.S. Achuthanandan called up DGP Loknath Behra and spoke to him. While Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said he was "pained" at the government's failure to understand the sorrow of a mother who had lost her son, former chief minister Oommen Chandy termed the police action 'shameful.'
BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekaran said the 'police brutality' was worse than what happened during the Emergency.
"The Pinarayi government will be washed away in the tears of the mother," he said.
Various youth organizations and women's outfits took out marches and protested across the state.
(With inputs from PTI)