Shocking that there was no intervention on the part of Kerala government in Arjun's case; BJP will strongly protest: K Surendran

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP state president K Surendran said that the failure of the state ministers to come to the rescue of Malayalee driver Arjun, who is trapped in a landslide in Karnataka, is criminal negligence of the government. "Why didn't the ministers who went to the airport with bags to go to Kuwait go to save Arjun who is in the nearby state?" he asked in his statement.

"It is shocking that there was no intervention on the part of the Kerala government in Arjun's case. Despite such a great plight for a Malayali, no one followed up. The Karnataka government intervened as if it were a payback. BJP will strongly protest against the negligence of the Karnataka government," K Surendran said.

The rescue operation for Arjun, who is missing along with the lorry, is continuing on the Goa-Mangaluru National Highway at Ankola Shirur hill in Uttara Kannada district. The Navy, NDRF, SDRF Police and Fire Force are carrying out the rescue mission. A radar search has been started at the accident spot. A team from Surathkal NIT is conducting the radar inspection.

Ten people including Arjun were involved in the accident. Seven bodies were found in the river. Arjun went on the 8th of this month with the lorry of Manaf, a resident of Mukkam, to bring wood from Karnataka. His last call home was on the 16th.. The information came to be known at Arjun's house when the Bharat Benz Company informed the lorry owner about the presence of GPS at the disaster site.