Kerala’s Director General of Police on Tuesday issued an order handing over to the Crime Branch of the police the investigation into the vandalism that took place in the Kerala Assembly during the ruckus on March 13. The local police in Thiruvananthapuram had been handling the case so far.
Sources explained that the case was being handed over to the Crime Branch as it needed detailed gathering of evidences and other procedures. Speaker N Sakthan had instructed the Thiruvananthapuram police to look into the vandalism in the House on March 13 which had led to destruction of property on the Speaker’s dais.
The DGP handed over the case to the Crime Branch when a local police team headed by Assistant Commissioner V Suresh Kumar had almost completed the preliminary evidence-gathering. The team, by examining the video- records, had reportedly identified the MlAs who had perpetrated the vandalism in the House.
The police have already sought legal advice on the complaints lodged by five woman MlAs of the Opposition alleging that members of the ruling front had sexually harassed and physically attacked them amidst the ruckus in the House. The woman members had lodged their complaints with the DGP on Monday.
The CPI(M)-led Opposition lDF said it would not accept the Crime Branch probe as it was just a ploy to delay the process. “If there is a probe it should not be general. There should be probe into specific cases related to the incident and this should be done after formally registering cases,” Deputy Opposition leader and State CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.
The Speaker had on March 16 suspended five MlAs of the Opposition for vandalizing his dais on March 13 during the leftist protest in the House against the presentation of the 2015-16 Budget by Finance Minister KM Mani, who had been accused of taking Rs 1 crore as bribe from bar owners and leaking out Budget proposals to interested business sectors for money.