Kerala port brawl: Police charge more than 50 Catholic priests in FIR

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Police names the Archbishop of the Latin Catholic Diocese, Thomas J Netto, as the first accused in an FIR filed on the Vizhinjam clashes that occurred in the capital district.

In the FIR, police have named more than 50 priests of the Latin Catholic church, including Auxiliary bishop Christudas and Vicar General Yujin Pereria, for conspiring the attack on Vizhinjam sea port on Saturday.

On Saturday, those protesting against the port, led by the church, blocked the movement of trucks, which were heading to the port, attacked them and shattered their glasses.

After another group, who were pro-Vizhinjam port- being developed by the Adani group- intervened and tried to make way for the trucks, a clash erupted between them and the protesters.

The clashes resulted in many getting injured, and police estimated a Rs 2 lakh of loss of properties. The losses will be retrieved from the priests who were named in the FIR, police said.

Father Yujin Pereria told reporters, "We will approach the High court of Kerala for justice, and we will be submitting our prayer in the court on Monday."

He alleged that the state government purposefully made efforts to create an atmosphere for the clashes at Vizhinjam port premises.

Those supporting the Vizhinjam port, and clashed against protesters, had the backing of the CPI(M), BJP and the SNDP, the powerful backwards-class organisation of the Ezhava community, IANS reported.