The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on Wednesday sought more time from the Kerala Police to hand over to them its nine Jawans accused of involvement in the June 10 clash at Kozhikode airport with the personnel of Airports Authority of India (AAI). The police had on Tuesday served an ultimatum on the CISF to hand over them within 24 hours.
The CISF has sought more time to hand over the Jawans on technical grounds. They are accused of destroying public property during the clash with AAI’s Fire and Rescue wing personnel on June 10 night in which a CISF head constable, SS Yadav, had died of gunshot. A total of 14 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the incident.
The CISF authorities on Wednesday gave a letter to the Kerala Police saying that it could not hand over the accused immediately as security duties for them at the airport had already been scheduled and calling them back at this juncture could cause disruptions in the security system. The force will now have to comply with the police demand by June 20.
The police’s special team investigating the June 10 incidents at the airport decided to grant time till Saturday to the CISF for handing over the nine men after holding discussions with top CISF officials. The police had earlier decided to approach the court if the CISF refused to hand over the nine accused Jawans.
The police included these CISF personnel in the list of accused on the basis of the visuals in the CCTV clippings collected from the airport premises for the night of June 10. A total of 25 CISF personnel had been found to have been involved in vandalism at the airport and four were arrested on Sunday on the charge of destruction of public property.
A section in the Kerala Police feels that the Central force, embarrassed by the developments, could be trying to find some way to avoid the arrest of its personnel. A police official said that the investigation team was proceeding impartially and its job was to nab all those responsible for the violent incidents at the airport.
While taking up the bail applications of the four arrested CISF Jawans on Wednesday, the First Class Judicial Magistrate Court in Manjeri, Malappuram asked the police to produce the case diary in addition to the CCTV clippings. The court will consider the bail pleas of the CISF men, presently in judicial custody, on Thursday.
The police have already arrested ten staffers of the AAI’s Fire and Rescue wing at the airport over the clash and more arrests are expected in the coming days. A decision on naming CISF Sub-Inspector Sitaram Chowdhury whose service pistol was responsible for the death of head constable Yadav is yet to be taken.
Chowdhury is maintaining that Yadav was shot dead by the AAI staffers who had snatched away his pistol from him amidst the initial scuffle but the police, basing its investigations mainly on the CCTV clippings, are refusing to believe this. On Wednesday, the Kerala Cabinet decided to grant a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the family of Yadav.
Meanwhile, a Thiruvananthapuram report said that the CISF had made it clear that there could not be any compromises in the procedure of security frisking on AAI personnel at the State’s three airports – Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The CISF position was presented at a high-level meeting convened the other day by the Home Secretary.
CISF and Customs officials who took part in the meeting said that frisking of AAI personnel could not be avoided especially as there had been incidents in which airport employees had become accused in cases of gold-smuggling.