KASARGOD: A United Democratic Front (UDF) delegation from the state on Monday visited the families of the two slain protesters and those injured in police firing in Mangaluru.The six-member delegation was led by Congress state working president and Kannur MP K Sudhakaran and Kasaragod MP Rajmohan Unnithan. The other members of the delegation were Manjeshwar MLA MC Kamaruddin, Kasaragod MLA NA Nellikkunnu, Kuttiadi MLA Parakkal Abdulla and Mannarkad MLA N Shamsudheen.
Two persons -- Nausin, 23, and Abdul Jaleel Kudroli, 49 -- were killed in police firing during the protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in Mangaluru last Thursday. Unnithan said Abdul Jaleel was on his way to drop his daughter to school when he was gunned down by police in front of the little girl. “I visited his family but was not able to console the little girl,” he said. Abdul Jaleel often used to help other children reach school, the MP said. The delegation also visited Nausin’s home.
They went to two hospitals where victims of police firing were undergoing treatment. “We saw 10 persons with bullet injuries in the hospitals,” said Sudhakaran. “The conditions of three of them are still critical,” he said. Going by their testimonies, it was clearly a case of hunting people down, said the delegation. “Most of them were hit by bullets on the back and behind the thighs. It means the police shot at them when they were running away and not when they were charging at the police,” Unnithan said.
Unnithan also shared the incident which involved former mayor K Ashraf. “Ashraf was called to the site of protest by City Police Commissioner (P S) Harsha to pacify the crowd. And when he reached there, he was shot at by the police,” Unnithan said after meeting the former mayor in hospital. Ashraf was pacifying the crowd when something hit him on the head and he collapsed. He suspects he was hit by a teargas shell, said the MP.
‘No Malayalis among injured’
The delegation debunked the allegations of Karnataka Police that Malayalis instigated the violent protest at Bunder on Thursday. “None of the people injured or the dead were Malayalis and, importantly, police have not yet arrested any Malayali in connection with the protest,” said Unnithan after meeting senior police officers. The UDF team said the police and BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje were spreading lies to create animosity between the people of the two states. “The people of the two states enjoy very good relationship. They are trying to destroy that by spreading lies,” he said. The delegation also raised the issue of illegal detention of journalists from Kerala.