Councillor Suja’s husband questions littering, knocked down by car

KOCHI: A murder attempt following an argument over dumping of garbage on the roadside! On the receiving end was the husband of a Kochi corporation councillor.The incident happened on the Amala Bhavan Road near Kadavanthra on Thursday night. CV Lonappan, husband of councillor Suja, was allegedly knocked down by Anand Mathew, 50, with his car for questioning dumping of waste in public. Lonappan, who suffered fractures in his leg, has been admitted to a hospital in Kadavanthra. Anand, a resident of Janatha Road, was taken into custody based on the complaint filed by Suja at the Thevara police station.

“Everyday we are getting many complaints from the public about illegal dumping of waste on the roadside. Despite pasting posters in the area, many continued to do it. On Thursday night, my husband was in the area to monitor and prevent people from dumping garbage on the road. Anand reached the spot and dumped waste on the roadside. My husband asked him to take it back. After a lengthy argument, he finally agreed to take it back,” said Suja.

Though Anand left in his car, he took a ‘U’ turn and knocked down Lonappan, who was on a motorcycle.“It was a narrow escape for Lonappan as he almost hit his head on the divider. If this is the plight of a councillor’s husband, you can imagine what normal people are facing when they question illegal waste dumping,” Suja said.

Though a case under IPC 308, 326, 269 was registered, it is alleged the police are going soft on the accused, who has not been traced yet. They are not ready to divulge his details either.Another councillor Ambika Sudarsan, of 36th division, was also beaten by a few people on Thursday night when she asked about dumping garbage on the stretch.Mayor M Anilkumar approached City Police Commissioner C Nagaraju, asking him to take stringent action against the accused. “Police should act tough against such persons. Incidents like this cannot be taken lightly,” the mayor said.