Youth Congress (YC) and Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists clashed with the police during a protest march taken out to the house of a member of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s security detail here on Saturday.
Several activists marched to the house of Sandeep, one of the Chief Minister’s gunmen, near Pattom, in protest against the manhandling of KSU workers who waved black flags at Mr. Vijayan’s convoy when the Navakerala Sadas outreach programme reached Alappuzha.
Based on a Special Branch alert that warned of possible protests, the police had beefed up security outside the houses of Mr. Sandeep and Anil Kumar, another security officer, in the city. Notably, a sizable gathering of Democratic Youth Federation of India workers had also formed in the areas.
The police used a water cannon on the protesters thrice as they neared the barricades erected on the road leading to Mr. Sandeep’s house. The clash escalated as the activists threw stones at the police, prompting the latter to lathicharge them. Three persons, including Youth Congress district president Nemom Shajeer, sustained injuries in the melee.
