V D Govt begins work; CM announces reinvestigation into gunmen's rescue operations 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V D Satheesan has ordered a re-investigation into the incident in which KSU and Youth Congress workers were beaten up by the former chief minister's gunmen during the New Kerala Yatra. The chief minister informed this while briefing the first cabinet. He added that a special team will conduct the re-investigation.

‘The incident in which the then chief minister's gunmen, surrounded and attacked those protesting on the roadside when he arrived in Alappuzha on 15-12-2023 as part of the New Kerala program, was one that shook Kerala. The Alappuzha Magistrate's Court ordered a re-investigation into the incident on November 8, 2024. However, the investigation was not conducted. So, a special team will investigate this case,' clarified the new chief minister.

KSU leader AD Thomas, who won from Alappuzha in the assembly elections, and others were assaulted on that day. The crime branch was trying to close the case by submitting a report stating that the chief minister's gunman Anil Kumar and security guard Sandeep had not committed any crime. The chief minister has now ordered a re-investigation into this.

It was alleged that the crime branch closed the case without collecting the crucial video footage in the case. The allegation was that the crime branch DySP repeatedly avoided attempts to submit clear visual evidence. It is assessed that the gunman, who was supposed to travel with the chief minister with a gun, took a stick which was hidden in the escort vehicle and beat the heads of the protesters, which is against the police rules. The gunman, who got out of the vehicle in Kannur and Alappuzha to beat KSU members, caught hold of a newspaper photographer by the neck in Idukki. The gunman's duty is to be with the chief minister every time. It is illegal to get out of the escort vehicle and unleash violence on the road after the chief minister's vehicle has passed. The gunman used a long, unbreakable stick, longer than the lathi normally used by police, that could be swung from a car.