Kerala’s UDF government constituted an SIT to reinvestigate a case related to the alleged assault on two Youth Congress workers by gunmen of the then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during a protest in Alappuzha in 2023. The announcement was made on Tuesday.
The seven-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) is to be headed by Superintendent of Police A P Shoukathali, an official source said.
The State Police Chief has directed the SIT to complete the reinvestigation in the case and submit a report within one month, the source added.
The move came a day after the state's first Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister V D Satheesan, decided to order a reinvestigation into the case that occurred during the Nava Kerala Yatra of the Vijayan-led Cabinet in Alappuzha.
A D Thomas, who won the April 9 Assembly election from the Alappuzha seat, was among the Youth Congress leaders who suffered injuries in the alleged attack by the gunmen.
Speaking to reporters after chairing the cabinet meeting on Monday, Satheesan said that when the case came before the court, it rejected the prosecution's arguments and ordered a reinvestigation.
He alleged that despite the court order, the previous government had failed to act on it for more than a year.
"Unfortunately, for the last one-and-a-half years, the government had not issued an order for reinvestigation. So the first Cabinet decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team to carry out the reinvestigation ordered by the court," he said.
Asked whether it was part of a political vendetta, the chief minister had said the government was only implementing the court's directive. "But we do not forget anything," he had said.
The alleged incident had led to strong protests by the Congress both inside and outside the Assembly at the time, accusing the then CPI(M)-led government of stifling the voice of the people against the government.
Follow us
