Kerala police officer accused of 'assaulting' restaurant employees suspended

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (PTI) Kerala police on Tuesday suspended an officer accused of "assaulting" employees of a Thrissur-based restaurant two years ago.

The action comes in the wake of the recent release of the CCTV footage of the alleged assault and the issue being discussed in the state assembly earlier in the day.

During the discussion in the House on an adjournment motion notice moved by the opposition Congress-led UDF with regard to the alleged rise in custodial torture cases in the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the officer was immediately transferred to the Thrissur City Traffic Enforcement Unit on receipt of a complaint against him.

The officer, P M Ratheesh, was the SHO of Peechi police station when the incident occurred.

According to the restaurant owner, Laly's Group managing director K P Ouseph, his employees were allegedly assaulted inside Peechi police station on May 24, 2023.

He is the one who, earlier this month, released the CCTV footage of the incident.

According to Ouseph, the incident began after a verbal duel between Dhineesh of Palakkad and some of his restaurant staff at Pattikad. Dhineesh later approached Peechi police, claiming that he was assaulted by the hotel employees.

"Soon, my hotel manager, Ronny Johny, and driver, Libin Philip, were called to the police station. There, Sub Inspector P M Ratheesh assaulted both of them. When my son Paul Joseph reached the station, he was locked up," Ouseph had alleged after releasing the footage.

According to the businessman, Ratheesh was later promoted as Circle Inspector and posted at Cheruthuruthy police station and then was serving at Kadavanthra station in Kochi.

As part of his legal fight, Ouseph filed an RTI application seeking CCTV footage of Peechi police station.

After his application was rejected by Peechi station and ACP Ollur, he filed an appeal to the Kerala State Right to Information Commission, which, after several hearings, ordered police to hand over the CCTV footage in August 2024.

Recently, four policemen who served at Kunnamkulam police station in Thrissur were suspended for assaulting Youth Congress leader VS Sujith in 2023.

The action was taken after Sujith recently obtained CCTV camera footage of the police station under RTI Act after two years long legal battle.

Earlier in the day in the state assembly, the Congress-led UDF sought dismissal from service of the four officers who had allegedly assaulted Sujith.

The opposition said that till the four are removed from service, two UDF MLAs will be on "indefinite satyagraha" outside the doors of the assembly hall. PTI HMP HMP KH