Pitched street battles unfolded in the State capital for the second day on Wednesday as Opposition parties and their feeder organisations threw caution to the wind amid the COVID-19 pandemic to take on the government over the fire incident at the Secretariat.
Alleging a bid to destroy evidence in the gold smuggling case, the United Democratic Front (UDF), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other outfits marched to the Secretariat seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation and other agencies into the incident. In anticipation of the protests, the police put the Secretariat under tight security.
The series of protests got under way with a march taken out by the UDF, which observed a Statewide ‘black day’. Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala inaugurated the demonstration. Activists of the Mahila Congress then burnt Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in effigy.
Signalling a shift in the tone of protests, Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) protesters attempted to topple the barricades, prompting the police to use water cannon. Soon, Yuva Morcha workers toppled the barricades and attempted to enter Cantonment Road, which led the police to use water cannon and fire tear gas shells at the protesters. The youth activists were soon joined by senior leaders of the BJP, including P.K. Krishnadas, V.V. Rajesh and S. Suresh, who later led a protest meeting.
Later, the Youth League, Kerala Students Union (KSU) and Youth Congress took out demonstrations, all of which resulted in violence. While a few KSU protesters attempted to scale the compound wall and enter the Secretariat premises, a full-blown confrontation that Youth Congress workers had with the police led to one activist, Shareef of Vembayam, sustaining head injuries.
Meanwhile, the Cantonment police registered eight cases in connection with the clashes outside and within the Secretariat as the fire raged in the building on Tuesday.
Eight BJP workers, including State president K. Surendran, were booked for allegedly attempting to barge into the Secretariat and obstruct police officials from undertaking their responsibility.
In another case, V.S. Sivakumar, MLA, was charged for violating the COVID-19 protocol. Over 50 demonstrators have been booked by the police.