Over 50 Communist Party of India – Marxist workers have been booked for allegedly attacking four police officials of Kuttiady police station near Kozhikode on Sunday night, police said. The police are yet to make any arrests. The Police said that they were booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including obstructing a police officer and attacking an officer on duty.
A police jeep also suffered minor damage, police said. A Station House Officer and three police officials of Kuttiady police station were injured in an attack allegedly by a group of CPI(M) workers at nearby Nittoor late on Sunday night.
The Hindu reported that the attack was to release a party worker of the CPI(M) -- AP Asokan -- who was in police custody in connection with a 2016 clash in Kuttiady. The officials had taken the party worker into custody after getting an arrest warrant from the court.
The 2016 clash for which he was arrested was between workers of the CPI(M) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kuttiady.
Police said the team had gone to the spot to arrest a local Left leader against whom there was an arrest warrant pending since 2016 in a BJP worker's murder case. The arrest warrant came since Ashokan had not reportedly presented himself before the court regularly.
Kozhikode Rural Superintendent of Police (SP) A Sreenivas, under whose jurisdiction the crime occurred, however, declined to comment on the incident.
Three of the injured were treated at a local hospital and one has been admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College hospital. Reportedly, a Sub Inspector of Police too was attacked. A police patrol vehicle was also vandalised.
(With PTI inputs)