PM MODI FACED TERROR THREAT ON KOCHI TRIP: KERALA DGP

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Prime Minister faced a terrorist threat during his visit to Kochi last week, Kerala police chief TP Senkumar said on Tuesday to justify the clampdown against protesters lining Narendra Modi’s route.

People from Puthuvype, a coastal hamlet on the outskirts of the port city, were staging a sit-in on the road a day before Modi was to take the route. They have been protesting against a cooking gas plant being built in the area.

The DGP said extremist outfits were funding the protests against the LPG plant of the Indian Oil Corporation.

“We had information about a terror module. During the PM visit we can’t take any chance. So, the police removed protesters staging a sit-in on the road the PM had to take a day before his visit,” he said.

But he refused to divulge any details about the module.

“Protesters tried to block the road to be taken by the PM’s convoy. They came in large numbers without permission. Police had little option but to remove them forcibly,” he said.

The CPI, one of the constituents of the ruling LDF, dismissed the police chief’s remarks.

“He is coming out with a new theory to justify police excesses on innocent people. We will not allow this to happen. The IOC has to stop work immediately,” said CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran.

The CPI and Congress pledged their support to the public protest, though chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned protesters against any attempt to scuttle development projects.

Work on the protest-hit LPG plant resumed two weeks ago after the Kerala high court and the national green tribunal cleared it. But public unrest has increased simultaneously, forcing police to lathi-charge protesters trying to enter the site.

Police justified their action saying they were implementing the high court order to help start work.