The police used truck-mounted water cannons to confront a Youth Congress (YC) march to the Secretariat on Wednesday that turned violent.
The Youth Congress Thiruvananthapuram district committee had taken out the march to protest against the arrest its State president Rahul Mamkootathil sans prior notice while he was allegedly convalescing at home from a head injury allegedly inflicted by the police during an Opposition protest in the capital on December 20.
Former Youth Congress State president Shafi Parambil, MLA, inaugurated the protest. He said the police had arrested Mr. Mamkootathil like an absconding criminal for exercising his democratic right to dissent in a peaceful manner. Mr. Parambil, the third accused in the case, dared the police to arrest him.
