Palathayi sexual abuse case: Cops harassed me, says legal team member

KOZHIKODE: A member of an organization that pointed out the lapses of police in the Palathayi sexual abuse case, has alleged that the police had tried to brand him as terrorist.
V Suhail, a member of the legal assistance team (LAT), has submitted a complaint to top police authorities against the circle inspector of Nattukal police station in Palakkad.“Two policemen came to my house when I was not there on September 8 and asked about my background details and information on LAT,” said Suhail, who is studying for LLB.
The next day he met the CI in his office. “He asked in front of my father whether I have connections with any terrorist organizations. I learnt that the police have been collecting my call details too. We were at the station from 10am to 2pm,” he said.
Suhail said he found a sentence ‘I have no connection with other terrorist organizations’ in the statement written by the police. They told him that the inquiry was done as per instructions from the office of DIG (Kannur).
He said LAT had made several complaints against the police team that probed the Palathayi sexual abuse case in which BJP leader K Padmarajan is the accused. “We had sent hundreds of emails pointing out lapses by the police that weakened the case,” he said. The complaints were sent from Suhail’s email account, which was accessed by police and identified his mobile number. “Police said they were watching me for the past few days,” Suhail said, adding that police intervention created panic in his family.
Police, however, denied the allegations. Circle inspector Aneesh Lal told TOI that there was a direction from the office of Kannur DIG to find out the details of the youth.
“We inquired about him discreetly. Neither any policemen visited his house nor was he summoned to the police station. Those around him may be upset with the inquiry. That could be the reason for the allegations,” he said.
Kannur DIG K Sethuraman said he received a complaint against the CI, which was forwarded to DIG, Thrissur, as Palakkad is under Thrissur range.