A protest march organised by Youth Congress workers against the arrest of their state president Rahul Mamkootathil turned violent on Wednesday. The march took place in front of the Secretariat. The police set up water cannons in multiple locations to disperse the protesters.
Mamkootathil was arrested on Tuesday from his house in Pathanamthitta for allegedly leading violent attacks during his recent march to highlight alleged atrocities against Youth Congress workers during Nava Kerala Sadas programme led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
On Wednesday, tensions escalated between Youth Congress workers and the police while the former tried to dismantle barricades. Later, the police took to using water cannons to disperse the protesters. The demonstrators also sat on the road expressing their discontent through slogans directed at both the police and the LDF government in the state.
During the previous protest march, MLA Shafi Parambil criticised the police, accusing them of acting like 'servants' of the Left government and party leaders.
Meanwhile, the southern state witnessed widespread protests following the arrest of Mamkootathil, who was detained in connection with a Secretariat march organized last month to protest alleged mistreatment of Youth Congress workers during the state government's program.
The court subsequently remanded Mamkootathil in judicial custody until January 22, taking into account a medical report indicating he had no major health issues.
"Majority of the police personnel who came to the house didn't know what was happening. Some of them just said that they had a directive from the top to arrest Rahul from home," Mamkootathil's mother told reporters.
In the police vehicle, the Youth Congress president said, "It was Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's decision to arrest me in front of my mother, but I won't stop my fight here."
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