Imposing fines should not be seen as an offence, police doing job assigned by govt, justifies CM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan justified the activities of the police during Covid and lockdown times. He said there were attempts to portray the police as the enemy of the country and it was not right to create the impression that the police are against the people. He said this while replying to the adjournment motion moved by the opposition in the assembly on the arrest of a tribal moopan and his son in Attappady Sholayur.

What happened in Attapady was a family dispute. The police tried to maintain law and order there. The case was registered by the police on a complaint lodged by Kurunthachalam over a dispute between him and the moopan. Only a natural action of the police to maintain law and order was seen there.

Meantime, N Shamsuddin MLA, who moved the motion said the police took oorru moopan and his son into custody like nabbing terrorists. He alleged in the assembly that the police had arrested the two on the instructions of the CPM and that the moopan’s son Murugan had a dispute with the party, which was the main reason for their arrest.

However, the chief minister said the police functioned as people's force and that the history of the police is to work with them in disasters. The chief minister said that the imposition of fines should not be seen as a major offense and that the police are only doing the duty entrusted by the government. The chief minister added that the sacrificial work of the police should not be taken lightly for political gains.