A day after the Kizhakkambalam violence in which the workers of the Kitex Group attacked a group of policemen, the company's managing director, Sabu M Jacob, on Monday made serious allegations against the police.
Jacob said the police have arrested 151 innocent labourers without any evidence. Jacob said the company could identify only 23 accused from CCTV visuals.
“The police have arraigned 164 labourers from different states as accused. Of them, only 13 were engaged in the clash as per CCTV evidence with us. Why have the police jailed the remaining 151 innocent people,” Jacob asked.
Jacob said the police picked up the labourers in a haste to hoodwink the public. “There are quarters in 12 lanes and a total of 984 labourers live in them. Of them, 499 are Keralites and 485 migrants. The police picked people only from three quarters – 10, 11 and 12. How could they conclude that the migrant labourers living in the three quarters were only responsible for the crime,” he said.
He said the company will hand over 11 more labourers, whom, he said, were the actual accused to the police.
Jacob alleged that such a large number of his employees were arrested due to the state government's personal enmity towards him, his company and the Twenty20 organisation, their political outfit.
He urged that the poor workers be not targeted in order to harm him or his business and said that if the government wants him to shut his company here, he will do so if asked to.
Inter-state crisis
He even suggested that the issue could lead to an inter-state issue if other states come forward seeking justice to the labourers who have been falsely implicated.
Jacob and his Kitex company have been at the centre of several controversies. Earlier this year, Jacob had come out openly against the state government alleging harassment by various departments in the name of inspections. His decision to withdraw from a multi-crore investment in Kerala had grabbed national attention.
The opposition Congress has also been up in the arms against Jacob after Twenty-20 posed an electoral challenge to the party. Congress MP Benny Behanan on Monday demanded Jacob be booked in connection with the violent incident in Kizhakkambalam. He said it was Jacob who criminalised the migrants for his gains in the past.
Don't isolate migrant labourers: Kodiyeri
Menwhile, CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Monday urged the people not to isolate migrant workers in the name of the Kizhakkamabalam episode. He said the truth behind the incident would come out through the police investigation.
State Minister for Labour, V Sivankutty, said there would be a two-pronged investigation into the incident. “The police will investigate the law and order issues while the labour commissioner will probe the issues relating to the workers,” he said.
