Kerala radical group alleges illegal detention of members

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Palakkad (Kerala), Sep 3 (IANS) Porattom, a radical Left group in Kerala, Wednesday alleged that two of its activists have been illegally detained in Agali in Palakkad district at the behest of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M).

Porattom activists Sunil Babu and Vinod, both daily wage labourers, were taken into custody Sunday. The police said they had seized CDs of weapon training conducted by Maoists in Nepal and Maoist literature from the them.

Porattom state general convenor M. Ravunni, however, alleged that ‘the police recorded their arrest only on Tuesday after torturing them for two days in custody. They produced our activists in a court only Tuesday at 9 p.m.’.

He said this was a violation of the Supreme Court directive that those arrested should be produced in court within 24 hours.

‘Both our activists were working among tribal people. They were working openly and there is no secrecy in it. Their work was not to the liking of CPI-M activists at Agali. It was at their behest that the police arrested them,’ Ravunni told IANS.

He said that the CDs seized from the activists were openly available in the market.

‘The literature police seized were articles published in a Malayalam political weekly,’ Ravunni said.

Porattom has complained to the state human rights commission against the arrest of the activists, he added.