Thiruvananthapuram: Police in Kerala on Tuesday arrested six people for allegedly attacking noted Malayalam poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar in Kollam district for criticising right-wing outfits, a senior official said.
The six, including a panchayat member of the area, have been booked for voluntarily causing hurt and wrongful restraint, they said.
“The arrested are supporters of the RSS-BJP. More arrests are likely after questioning them,” Kollam superintendent of police (rural) B Ashokan said.
The attack took place on Monday night when Sreekumar was returning after addressing a cultural programme at a reading club in Kadakkal. Police said the poet’s speech irked RSS workers of the area and they intercepted his car, showered abuses and tried to manhandle him.
However, local residents and office-bearers of the reading club intervened and rescued him. He later filed a complaint with the police.
“They came menacingly towards me questioning my speech in which I criticised the move to silence writers and others in different parts of the country. They showered choicest abuses and tried to manhandle me,” Sreekumar said adding that such acts won’t intimidate him.
The police said he did not receive any injury and his car was not damaged in the attack.
The RSS’ leaders, however, claimed that its workers only questioned his speech and never attacked him.
The issue figured in the state assembly and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said strict action will be taken against the perpetrators of the crime.
“The RSS can’t replicate what it is doing in north India here. My government will act tough to foil their designs,” he said while condemning the attack.
(Hindustan Times)