Kerala road rage case: Inspector transferred, Kollam SP to probe charges against MLA

Six days after a Left Democratic Front (LDF) legislator allegedly assaulted a man in front of his mother in a road rage case, the Kerala government on Tuesday transferred a police officer who was said to have refused to entertain their complaint .

The administration also directed Kollam superintendent of police B Asokan to probe the incident involving former minister KB Ganesh Kumar.

Replying to a submission in the state assembly, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Asokan has been instructed to submit a report at the earliest. Opposition leaders have been raising the issue in the house for the last two days, alleging that the government is trying to shield the legislator.

The incident occurred last Wednesday, while the MLA was heading towards a house in Pathanapuram to pay his respects to the family of a deceased person. The man, 22-year-old G Ananth Krishnan, and his mother, Sheena, were returning from the same house. However, as the road was too narrow for both to pass at the same time, a quarrel for right of way erupted between the two.

According to Krishnan, an enraged Kumar and his driver stepped out of their vehicle and assaulted him. Sheena alleged that she was verbally abused by the legislator when she tried to intervene.

Krishnan, who had to be admitted to a hospital after the incident, said the local police inspector refused to step in even though he was present at the spot. Also, he agreed to register his complaint only after the MLA filed one of his own, he added.

Later, Sheena directly approached the local court and submitted her statement under Section 164-B of the Indian Penal Code.

“Although we are under tremendous pressure to withdraw the case, we will not budge. We will take the case to its logical conclusion. We later heard that the MLA has a history of road-rage cases, which should not be permitted in a state like Kerala,” said Krishnan, an engineering graduate.

But Kumar tried to underplay the incident, stating that “it was only natural to face such allegations when you are in politics”.

Kumar was forced to quit the Oommen Chandy government five years ago, after his wife filed a complaint of domestic violence against him. Later, his party – the Kerala Congress (B) – crossed over from the Congress-led United Democratic Front to the ruling LDF.

Incidentally, veteran Marxist and former chief minister VS Achuthanandan had fought a legal battle spanning over two decades to prosecute Kumar’s father, R Balakrishna Pillai, in a corruption case. Today, both Pillai and Achuthanandan hold plum positions in the state cabinet.