Youth Congress demonstration to Thiruvananthapuram Corporation turns violent

Police hurl smoke grenades, teargas shells to disperse protesters; police officer, tv channel driver injured

The State capital turned a battleground on Thursday when Youth Congress activists clashed with the police outside the Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation over a letter allegedly written by Mayor Arya Rajendran seeking a “priority list” of applicants from Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] district secretary Anavoor Nagappan for appointment to temporary posts in the civic body.

The Corporation headquarters, which has been roiled by agitations undertaken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress for over a week, came under the grip of the violent protest that spread to nearby areas and lasted around two hours, during which a section of the M.G. Road was closed for traffic.

The Youth Congress, which demanded Ms. Rajendran’s resignation, commenced its march to the Corporation office from the Martyrs’ Column at Palayam around 12.30 p.m. Soon after its inauguration outside the Corporation compound, several activists attempted to topple the barricades erected in front of the main gate.

The large police posse stationed in the area used a water cannon over five times to quell the protest. However, the activists regrouped every time and pelted stones and flag poles at the police personnel. With the situation threatening to go out of hand, the police fired several smoke grenades and teargas shells towards the protesters.

The agitators finally dispersed after the police caned them. The clash spread to the LMS junction and nearby places. The police successfully averted a potential clash between activists of the Youth Congress and the Students Federation of India (SFI) when a group allegedly belonging to the latter hurled stones at the former near the university hostel premises. One police officer and a driver of a television channel were injured in the stone pelting.

Inaugurating the protest earlier, Youth Congress State president Shafi Parambil accused the CPI(M)-led government of facilitating backdoor appointments. He added that the organisation would hold protests across the State until the Mayor resigned.