Kerala: Cop hires goons to attack journalist

CNN-IBN

Thiruvananthapuram, 24 May 2011: Law enforcers have turned law breakers in Kerala as a senior police officer has been arrested for hiring goons to attack a TV journalist to settle scores.

 

VB Unnithan, a journalist with the Malayalam daily ’Mathrubhumi’ is in the hospital. He was brutally attacked by a group of gangsters in Kollam on April 16, but investigations into the case revealed a shocker, that the attack may have been planned by a senior police officer Santosh N Nair with a grudge, after the journalist in 2009 wrote a questionable article tarnishing his reputation. Nair has been taken into custody.

 

 

 

Senior Journalist and former President of Kerala Union of Working Journalists in Thiruvananthapuram Gouridasan Nair said, "There is a worrying trend in Kerala police which has to be nipped. Despite a police act being enacted recently, this has not help in uprooting the criminalization of the police force. The top brass of the police has a huge issue on their hands and they should take a serious note of this and act."

 

The incident has left the Kerala police red-faced but it has prompted them to swing into action.

 

Thiruvananthapuram DIG S Sreejith said, "We have no qualms over bringing our brethren to justice if they are at fault. It shows how professional we are. There is nothing to be embarrassed about. If an officer has erred in some way he will be punished, that’s all."

 

The attack on Unnithan has been the worst case that has come to light in what many say is a state wide phenomenon. The public is a worried lot and they want their men in uniform to clean up the system.