Christmas day celebrations in Kerala turns violent, police attacked

Kochi: Christmas day celebrations on Saturday night by migrant labourers from the north east part of India at Kizhakkambalam area of Ernakulam district turned violent, leading to several policemen being brutally assaulted and two police jeeps badly damaged, with one set on fire, a senior company official said.

In the subsequent police action, around 150 workers, who are employees of Kitex and residing in a housing camp built for them by the company, were taken into custody in connection with the incident. Some police personnel were hospitalised, police said, without giving the exact number. "The workers had brutally assaulted the police officers, including a Circle Inspector, who had reached the spot to resolve the arguments between two groups of labourers on Saturday night," the company's Managing Director Sabu Jacob told the media over phone.

He said that initially the camp security and the supervisors tried to intervene and resolve the issue, but they too were assaulted and thereafter, the police was called.

However, when the police arrived, the "uncontrollable" workers brutally attacked the officers, who were forced to retreat to safety, leaving their vehicles behind.

The two vehicles were then damaged by some of the workers and one of them was also set on fire.

Jacob said that there was no criminal intent behind what happened and claimed that drugs were brought into the camp and some of the workers were probably under its influence, leading to them becoming "uncontrollable".

He said his company would cooperate with the investigation.