The Kerala Police has registered a case against the organisers of the Janakeeya Yatra, a tumultuous mass journey, held by the Congress and the Opposition UDF it leads, on the recently commissioned Kochi Metro in protest against the non-invitation of former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, whom the UDF considers as the initiator of the project, to its inauguration on June 17. Chandy himself was at the head of the protest Metro journey held on June 20.

Though nobody had been named as accused in the case so far, the senior Congress and UDF leaders who had led the protest could face legal action as the police enquiry progressed, sources said. The hi-security Kochi Metro system had gone haywire to an extent for some time as huge crowds of UDF leaders and workers barged into the metro stations, platforms and trains.

The police in Aluva, the northern terminus of the Kochi Metro where the chaotic protest journey had started, initiated the case on the basis of a complaint lodged by Kochi Metro’s Assistant line Superintendent. An internal inquiry by the Kochi Metro Rail ltd, the company running the Metro system, had found that the protest was held in violation of the Metro Act.

The case was registered under Section 62 of the Metro Railways (Operation and Maintenance) Act. The Yatra had caused immense inconvenience to the ordinary passengers and Metro staff apart from causing damages to the Metro system. The complaint also said that the protestors had created nuisance to other passengers with their slogan-shouting at Metro premises.

The protest journey had led to indescribable chaos, according to eyewitnesses, KMRl officials and police sources, at two Metro stations, Aluva where it started and Palarivattom, the southern terminal of stage 1 of the Kochi Metro. “It was as though a herd of elephants had entered a sugar cane field,” said a KMRl employee at the Aluva station half-jokingly.

Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala was not on the primary list of invitees to the inauguration of the Metro by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 17 but he was invited after the alleged lapse triggered a controversy.  However, Chandy, seen as the initiator of the project by the UDF, had not been invited to the programme. The Yatra was organised mainly to protest against this.

Apart from Chandy, Chennithala, State Congress president MM Hassan, Congress legislators Anwar Sadat of Aluva, PT Thomas of Thrikkakkara and Hybi Eden of Ernakulam, former minister VK Ibrahim Kunju of the Muslim league, a UDF constituent, and Kochi Corporation Mayor Soumini Jain had taken part in the Janakeeya Yatra.

The hundreds of Congress-UDF workers who had barged into the Metro station at Aluva following their leaders had breached almost all security and housekeeping arrangements at the premises. About 200 leaders had booked for the journey on the Metro in advance but all the security counters had to be kept open as crowds of workers flowed into the station.

The automatic fare collection gates at the Aluva station were kept open as UDF workers rushed in and the tumult caused damages to the metal detector entries also, said KMRl sources. The escalator at the Palarivattom station had gone out of function due to overcrowding and the rush at the platform had reached hazardous levels, they said.

“The Metro train can carry over 900 passengers at a time and if the train gets overcrowded, systems will go out of work. As the UDF workers stuffed themselves into the train, there was a situation where the doors would not close. It is a pity that such indiscipline and breach of security took place within four days of the inauguration,” said a KMRl employee.