The Kerala State Human Rights Commission will conduct a sitting at Agali in Attappady on May 11 in connection with an alleged incident of police excesses on Vattulakki tribal hamlet moopan Choriya Moopan and his son and Adivasi Action Council vice president V.S. Murugan.
A police team led by Sholayur station house officer Vinod Krishnan had forcibly arrested Choriya Moopan and Murugan from their house at dawn on August 8, 2021. In response to a complaint filed with the Kerala State Human Rights Commission by human rights organisation Jananeethi, the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Dy.SP) of Agali had said that the father-son duo were arrested from their house as they refused to appear at the station in connection with a criminal case against them.
Jananeethi chairman N. Padmanabhan told the commission that the Dy.SP had twisted half-truths and misrepresented the facts in order to protect his junior colleagues. Mr. Padmanabhan said that the police had used excessive force against the tribal leaders to “help the land mafia of Attappady.”
Mr. Padmanabhan said that the police had acted with a hidden agenda to brand the tribal leaders as Maoists. “Had it not been for a video clip showing the police excesses that spread on the social media, the police would have made an attempt to brand Choriya Moopan and Murugan as Maoists,” he alleged.
The Jananeethi demanded penal action against the Dy.SP for misleading the commission. The commission will hear different stakeholders at its meeting on May 11.
