Case against PV Anwar MLA; police deployed at house; arrest expected

Nilambur/Keala: A case has been registered against PV Anwar MLA for vandalizing the Nilambur Divisional Forest Office (DFO) in protest against the killing of a tribal youth by a wild elephant in the Karulai forest. A case has been registered against 11 people, including the MLA. Police have deployed a cordon at Anwar's house, and he is likely to be arrested soon.

On Sunday morning, DMK workers led by the MLA vandalized the Nilambur DFO office, and the protest in front of the office quickly escalated into a clash. Since it was Sunday, the office was closed, and the protesters broke in, entered inside, and smashed chairs and light bulbs. They then marched to the Nilambur District Hospital, where the body of the murdered tribal youth was kept for postmortem. The police stopped the march with a large contingent in front of the hospital. In the march, PV Anwar sharply criticized state forest minister AK Saseendran. He said that the minister was untrustworthy. He also criticized the police for the delay in the postmortem of Mani, who died at 10:30 pm. The MLA also said that he had postponed his public march on Sunday out of respect for Mani.

Three DMK activists, namely Sudhir Punnappala, Shoukkath Panamaram and Mustafa, were taken into custody by the police in front of the district hospital in connection with the vandalism of the forest office. The protest led by the MLA lasted for about an hour and a half.