Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to be let off in speech row

Thiruvananthapuram: The state police have decided not to initiate any legal steps  against CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in connection with his recent controversial speech at Payyannur in Kannur, it is learnt. State police chief  Loknath Behera  took the decision  on the basis of the legal opinion as well as scrutiny of his speech, it is learnt.

There were allegations that the police had succumbed  to political pressure.    It may be recalled that there was a strong demand from various quarters, including Congress and BJP, to register a case against Mr Kodiyeri for allegedly making a call for violence in his speech. KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran and BJP leader P.K. Krishnadas had even given formal petitions to  Mr. Behera in this regard. Mr Kodiyeri, in his speech,   had said that party cadres should be trained to combat attacks and indirectly said that the attackers should be given fitting replies at once.