If something happens to me, madrasa owner, LSG official responsible: Kasaragod municipal secy

Kasaragod municipal secretary Justin P A was assaulted, abused and threatened by two men after he cancelled the occupancy permit of a madrasa following the discovery that the institution violated the permit, and a municipal official allegedly helped regularise the violation by forging his signature.

The assault happened in front of the municipal office as Justin was leaving for the day around 5.30 pm on Friday, December 6. Soon after the assault, Justin went to his native home in Alappuzha and sent his complaint to Kasaragod Collector Inbasekar K. 

When he returned to the office on Monday, December 9, the department relieved him of his duties as municipal secretary. "I will be joining the Kasaragod Collectorate as the Project Director of the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) tomorrow," he said.

On his return, Kasaragod Town Police also took his statement. They registered an FIR against Shihab, the civil contractor of the madrasa who allegedly assaulted him and an unidentified person who accompanied Shihab.

Police booked them for wrongful restraint under Section 126 (2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS); voluntarily causing hurt (Section 115 (2) of BNS); threatening (Section 32 of BNS); voluntarily causing hurt to deter a government official from their duty (Section 121(1) of BNS); using obscene words (Section 296 of BNS); criminal intimidation (Section 351(2) of BNS); and common intent (Section 3 (5) of BNS).

An officer at Kasaragod Town Police said the madrasa owner K H Salim and the LSGD official A P George were named in the complaint and could be booked as the investigation progresses.

According to Justin's complaint, Shihab, the civil contractor, and his unidentified accomplice assaulted and abused him on December 6. 

In a note sent to his colleagues, Justin said: "Shihab came at him saying, 'Son of a **, will you give a memo to George?'" Shihab's accomplice headbutted Justin and kneed him in the abdomen, the note said. CCTV footage of the assault is available with the municipal chairman's office, he told police.

Justin told Onmanorama that George is now a junior superintendent at LSGD's Joint Director's Office in Ernakulam. "He got a transfer to Ernakulam before I detected the fraud," he said.

Justin said he gave Salim's madrasa a partial occupancy permit to build a block above the existing school building. The permission was to make a 580 m² (6,243 sq ft) building. However, Justin reviewed the madrasa building file after he got a private complaint. "I discovered that completion and occupancy approval were fraudulently issued for 892.9 m² (9,611 sq ft). The document had a forged signature attributed to me. Following this, I took an official action, which has now placed me in this dire situation (the assault and the threat)," he wrote.

Justin said he would never end his life because he has family responsibilities. "If I face any harm or if my death appears accidental, I want to emphasise that there is a 100 per cent likelihood of it being a murder. Should anything happen to me, the individuals responsible would include," he wrote and named Salim, Shihab and "George, the former revenue officer who pulled the strings to get the document forged".