DCC flays arrest of Congress leaders

KOZHIKODE: The Wayanad District Congress Committee has come out strongly against the arrest of Kalpetta block panchayat president and four other Congress leaders saying that the party activists were being treated like terrorists by the police.
Speaking at a press conference in Kalpetta on Monday, DCC President K L Poulose said that the manner in which the police arrested people's representatives, including Kalpetta block panchayat president P K Anilkumar, by raiding their houses at night was a clear case of police high-handedness.
The Congress leaders were arrested during wee hours of Friday on charges of assaulting Abdul Saleem, assistant executive engineer at the Kalpetta block panchayat.
Poulose said that the allegation that the accused were forcefully released from police custody by a group of Congress leaders led by I C Balakrishnan MLA were false.
“The police had taken the arrested to the hospital after they complained of uneasiness and later they were given bail. Though the police have the right to arrest anyone upon verification of a complaint, it is unfair to treat people's representatives like this,” he said.