Kochi: The High Court of Kerala Monday quashed the cased filed against Deputy Collector and other police officials allegedly involved in the Koothuparamba police firing that claimed lives of five DYFI activists.
The petition was filed by Ramdas, brother of Rajeev, one of the deceased in the firing.
The HC approved the plea of the accused police officials in which they stated that the case was filed without the approval of the government.
The then ASP Ravada Chandrasekharan, DySP Hakim Bathery, Deputy Collector T P Antony, police constables Damodaran, Shivadas and Balachandran were the accused cops in the case registered at the Kuthuparambu First class Magistrate Court.
However, the court said that the petitioners are free to approach the court again with the approval of the government. The court also said that criminal procedure can be taken up against the accused police officials, except Ravada Chandrasekharan, if needed.
Koothuparamba firingwas a police action on November 25, 1994 at Koothuparamba town in the Kannur district, where the events took place following the inauguration of the Evening branch of the Co-operative Urban Bank in the Alakkandy Complex at on Thalassery Road in Koothuparamba.
The inauguration was to be performed by the Kerala Minister for Co-operation and Ports, M. V. Raghavan. Raghavan had once been a leader of the CPI-M, but was then on the opposite side and aligned with the ruling United Democratic Front after forming his own party, the Communist Marxist Party (CMP), following his expulsion from CPI-M.
The Democratic youth federation of India (DYFI), tried to prevent his visits to Kannur District. The inauguration function ensued in chaos following agitation which DYFI termed as "a protest against M.V. Raghavan, CMP leader and then Minister, for starting the medical college as a self-financing institution at Pariyaram,Kannur."
Five persons died and six persons were injured when the police fired on the crowd, purportedly resorted to for both the protection of the Minister and of public and private property.