Kerala: Goons attack mediapersons; one arrested

KOLLAM: The mediapersons who went to cover the surrender of the two teachers accused in the suicide of a student before the district magistrate court on Friday  were attacked by goons who accompanied the teachers.   They also tried to destroy the cameras of photographers  who tried  to capture the visuals of the accused.  

The police also abused and tried to manhandle the scribes. The attacks occurred when the accused were brought out of the court after their surrender. Mediapersons Prince Illyas, Pramod Panniyod, Anas Mohammed, Asif Panayil, Shanavas Fareed, S. Rajkumar, T.R. Shan, R.P. Vinod, Umesh Balakrishnan and N. Shiju were injured in the attack. The cameras were also damaged. A complaint was  filed with the Kollam west police.

"A case has been registered based on the statements by the mediapersons. We have identified the perpetrators and arrested one Ivan Johnson from Kollam who was behind the attack. The man is a relative of one of the accused," SI Nisamudheen told DC. Ivan Johnson is an employee with the district cooperative bank in Kollam. The accused were helped out of the way by the authorities providing them facility to "take rest" near the judge's chamber in the court. The teachers reached the court by 8 a.m., three hours ahead of  the court timings. A posse of around 50 policemen protected the teachers.