Congress MP Shafi Parambil Undergoes Surgery After Violent Clashes In Kerala's Kozhikode; LDF, UDF Activists Booked

Kozhikode: Police on Saturday registered cases against leaders and workers of both the UDF and LDF in connection with the violent incidents that took place in Perambra of Kerala’s Kozhikode district on Friday night.

A case has been registered against 700 people, including Congress MP Shafi Parambil, for various offences, including rioting, assaulting officers, obstructing their duty, and others, police said.

According to the police, the UDF workers and leaders on Friday night carried out a rally that obstructed the public way, and when they were stopped, they attacked police personnel with stones to deter them from doing their duty.

A case under sections 189 (unlawful assembly), 191 (rioting), 285 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation), 121 (causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), and 132 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered against Parambil and 699 others. According to Perambra DySP N. Sunilkumar, more than 400 LDF activists have also been booked for unlawful assembly and vandalism, including the destruction of vehicles.

Congress MP Shafi Parambil and several party leaders were injured on Friday evening after a protest march organised by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) turned into a violent clash with police. He reportedly underwent surgery at a private hospital here for injuries to his nose.

The confrontation followed a hartal called by the Congress to protest Thursday’s police action against its leaders and Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) activists after violence erupted over the college union election at CKGM Government College, Perambra.

In the polls, the Students Federation of India (SFI), affiliated to the CPI(M), won 15 seats, while the KSU and its ally, the Muslim Students Federation (MSF), secured five. However, the United Democratic Front (UDF) bloc bagged the chairman’s post, sparking clashes between rival groups that later spilled into Perambra town.

After the hartal ended at 6 pm on Friday, the Congress organised a rally, while the CPI(M) also held a march alleging their leaders were attacked. As Congress workers began raising slogans and staging a sit-in on the road, police executed a baton charge and fired tear gas and grenades to scatter the demonstrators, leading to a direct confrontation between the force and UDF activists.

Addressing supporters with blood on his face, Parambil accused police of "acting as CPI(M) loyalists" and warned that the ruling party would face a “greater defeat.” He also alleged the government would be exposed over the Sabarimala gold controversy. Congress leaders alleged the lathi-charge was unprovoked and that Parambil was specifically targeted. The injured leaders were taken to hospitals in Kozhikode.

Meanwhile, senior Congress leaders M K Raghavan and Mullappally Ramachandran on Saturday slammed the police action against Parambil. Raghavan, the Congress MP from Kozhikode, termed the incident an example of police brutality towards a peaceful rally.

"Shafi and other UDF leaders were cruelly assaulted. He was attacked while he was trying to defuse the situation," he claimed.

Ramachandran, a former KPCC chief, said the attack on Parambil cannot be viewed lightly, as it is not the first time he has been assaulted. "This is unacceptable. We strongly condemn it. There will be statewide protests against this," he said.

He also alleged that the assault on Parambil was intended to divert public attention from the Sabarimala gold issue and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) proceedings against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's son.

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