Assault on YC neta: Congress demands cops’ ouster; V.S. Sujith claims Rs 20L ‘compromise’ to drop cases

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/THRISSUR: Congress urged the state govt to dismiss the police officers who brutally assaulted Youth Congress Chowannur constituency president V S Sujith, with opposition leader Sunny Joseph demanding criminal cases be registered against them. Opposition leader V D Satheesan, meanwhile, wrote a letter to the CM seeking their dismissal.Four officers — SI Nuhman, senior civil police officer Sasidharan and CPOs Sandeep and Sajeevan — have been arraigned in the case.In the letter, Satheesan described the assault as an act that shocked the conscience, with the police showing no regard for humanity. Sujith was beaten at a spot without any cameras and subjected to violence that even terrorists would not commit, the letter said. The act has brought disgrace not only to the police force but to Kerala society as a whole. The letter cited Supreme Court rulings, including Nilabati Behera vs State of Orissa (1993) and D K Basu, that held custodial violence as a violation of human rights. Satheesan said Sujith was attacked merely for questioning police threats against his friends. The assault forced him to crouch while being hit on his head and face. The attack caused hearing loss and police also attempted to falsely implicate him, but that move failed, the letter said.CCTV footage of the 2023 incident surfaced only after a long legal battle through RTI Act. The crime detachment ACP's report was allegedly buried to protect the officers and, even now, the DIG is said to be taking the same stance. Police offered compensation: SujithSujith alleged on Thursday that ‘compensation' — Rs 20 lakh initially and a bigger amount later — was offered to him directly and through indirect contacts to withdraw the cases against the police officers.Congress activist Varghese Chowannur, who supported Sujith in the legal battle to secure the CCTV visuals at Kunnamkulam police station, said those who offered the ‘compromise formula' were saying the case would affect their lives. "They were worried only about their lives and appeared to be totally unconcerned about the damage they had done to Sujith's life," Varghese said."We didn't accept any compromise because we wanted to ensure that no other person would be subjected to such barbaric torture by the police," Sujith said.Sujith's counsel C B Rajeev said a petition would be filed soon before the judicial first class magistrate to arraign Suhair — who was a driver in the police department back then — in addition. "We didn't have much evidence against Suhair, but the CCTV visuals we have received now have enough evidence against Suhair also, Rajeev said. Suhair joined revenue department later.The KPCC chief, who met Sujith at the Thrissur district Congress committee office on Thursday, said the party would organise "mass protest meets'' in front of all the police stations on Sept 10, demanding action against the accused.