- Manjeshwar SI Anoob P and civil police officer Kishore allegedly assaulted by a group of five men in the early hours of Sunday
- The SI's right arm was broken, his face stabbed with stone when he questioned the gang's presence there at 12.30 am
- Kasaragod District panchayat member Golden Abdul Rahman says he was being framed; he was passing by after playing football when he saw the altercation
Kasaragod: Kasaragod District Panchayat member and IUML leader 'Golden' Abdul Rahman (33) has been arrested and remanded in custody for assaulting police officers on patrolling duty at Uppala near Manjeshwar.
Abdul Rahman (33), representing Manjeshwar division in the District Panchayat and district secretary of the Muslim Youth League, said he was being framed by the police. He has been lodged in Kasaragod sub-jail
Kasaragod DySP Sudhakaran P K said the people's representative was part of a five-member gang that assaulted Manjeshwar sub-inspector Anoob P and senior civil police officer Kishore at Hidayath Nagar in Uppala at 12.35 am on Sunday, September 3.
SI Anoop's right arm suffered a fracture in the attack, his face was stabbed with a stone and Kishore was shoved down, said police in the FIR against Golden Abdul Rahman, the fifth accused in the case.
The other accused in the case are Rasheed, Afsal, Sathar, and Noor Ali, all from Uppala, a commercial hub that sees underworld gang wars on the streets.
Manjeshwar police, however, arrested only Golden Abdul Rahman in the case. They are searching for the others.
On the intervening night of September 2 and 3, SI Anoob and team were patrolling and found the five men sitting near a flour mill at Thachilampara junction at Hidayath Nagar. "The SI asked them why they were sitting there so late in the night. This led to an altercation and they attacked the police officers," said DySP Sudhakaran.
The FIR said Rasheed and Afsal slapped SI Anoob. The third accused Sathar (not named in the FIR) allegedly used a stone to stab the officer's face.
Noor Ali and Golden Abdul Rahman allegedly held Kishore by the uniform and shoved him down, said police.
After attacking the police, they jumped into their car to escape. When SI Anoob tried to stop them, Afsal closed the door, fracturing the officer's arm, said the FIR.
Sudhakaran said Afsal used to run an eatery on government (poromboke) land there. "Members of the sand mafia assemble there in the night," he alleged. A month ago, police found a motorcycle parked there without a number plate. "When officers tried to impound the vehicle, the men there tried to obstruct them," he said. Recently, police directed Afsal to close his eatery by 11 pm.
He said Noor Ali, who attacked the civil police officer, is an accused in the murder of gangster Kalia Rafeeq. He is out on bail. Rafeeq, who made Uppala notorious, was shot and hacked to death by a rival gang on the outskirts of Mangaluru in February 2017.
DySP Sudhakaran questioned the presence of Abdul Rahman amid such a crowd at that hour. "Why should a people's representative be out at that hour? Even if he is there, he should try to stop an altercation and not help them assault an officer," he said.
However, Golden Abdul Rahman said he was not sitting with them. He said he was returning after playing football on a turf ground when he said a group engaged in an altercation with police officers. He said he tried to calm them down but when the situation escalated, he left the scene.
Police, however, charged the five accused, including Abdul Rahman, with wrongful restraint (Section 341 of IPC), assaulting public servants to deter them from discharging their duty (Section 353 of IPC), voluntarily causing hurt (Section 323 of IPC), common intent (Section 34 of IPC) and assaulting police officers to prevent them from discharging their duty (Section 117 (e) of Kerala Police Act).
If convicted, they may face a prison sentence of up to three years.
The IUML leader's arrest comes at a time when the UDF is demanding action against Kumbla police officers who chased a car with five schoolboys, leading to the car accident and death of a Class XI student.