Thrashed in station torture room, forcefully discharged during treatment; bus driver files complaint against Police brutality

KILIMANOOR: A private bus driver who questioned a police driver's profanity was brutally thrashed in the police station's torture room. Arjun (28), a native of Puthiyakavu, Kilimanoor, filed a complaint against the Kilimanoor police with the IG and Rural SP. The incident took place on August 18. Arjun is the driver of a private bus plying the Kilimanoor-Ponganadu-Kallambalam route. Arjun says that he delayed filing the complaint out of fear of the police. Arjun complains that he was taken into custody without reason and taken to a police jeep and a room at the station that did not have a CCTV camera, where he was battered by police officers including the CI.

On the day of the incident, at around 1 pm, CI B. Jayan approached the bus from the opposite direction in a vehicle while the bus was entering the stand with passengers on board. When the driver of the police vehicle that had stopped the bus yelled profanity, Arjun questioned it. He was immediately taken into custody. The complaint states that he was beaten inside the jeep, and a towel was stuffed in his mouth when he screamed.

After sustaining serious injuries, Arjun sought treatment at Attingal Valiyakunnu Hospital and then at the Medical College. He was taken to Kallara Tharatta Community Health Centre for further treatment, but the police intervened and he was discharged by force from the hospital the next day, the complaint states.

Police call the complaint fake

CBI Jayan stated that the complaint is fake. He added that filing a complaint about an incident that happened a month ago is a conspiracy. "The youth behaved rudely with the police when questioned about reckless driving. He even started an argument when he was taken to the station. A case was then registered, and he was released," says the Police.