Senior Congress leader justifies LoP's participation in CM's Onam feast

Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 7 (PTI) Senior Congress leader and UDF convenor Adoor Prakash on Sunday justified opposition leader V D Satheesan's participation in the Onam feast hosted by Chief Minister Pinarayi amidst a raging row over the custodial torture of a Youth Congress leader by police.

While responding to reporters' queries, Prakash said the news reports about the incident happened in Kunnamkulam police station in 2023, started appearing on TV channels only after Satheesan went to attend the CM's Onam feast.

The UDF convenor said he also attended a press meet along with the LoP and the latter proceeded to attend the feast last week.

"Actually the news about custodial torture had not appeared on the TV channels at that time. He (Satheesan) would have kept himself away from the event if it came to his notice before that," Prakash said.

His justification came a day after Congress veteran and former KPCC chief K Sudhakaran criticised Satheesan for attending the CM's feast in light of the Kunnamkulam custodial torture incident.

Responding to reporters' queries on whether he would have attended the Onam feast in the wake of CCTV footage showing the alleged torture of Youth Congress leader V S Sujith at Kunnamkulam police station in 2023, Sudhakaran said on Saturday that, "I would not have done that. That was not right. That's all. " He declined to comment further on the matter.

Sudhakaran also described the custodial torture as an "act of police persecution".

Satheesan had already made it clear that protests would intensify if the state government continued to maintain that no further action was required against the five police officials involved.

Four policemen, who served at Kunnamkulam police station in Thrissur, were suspended for assaulting Sujith, police said on Saturday. PTI LGK KH