Thiruvananthapuram: Concerned over the increase in criminal activities, Kerala police have been on a drive to rein in gangsters in the state, arresting as many as 13,032 of them between December 18, 2021 and January 9 this year.
But on Monday morning, police literally woke up to a shock to find the body of Shan Babu, 19, dumped in front of the Kottayam East police station by a person with a criminal record, K.T. Jomon, who was then taken into custody.
Shan Babu had been abducted by Jomon on Sunday evening when Babu was walking with two friends. Babu is believed to have been brutally beaten up before Jomon carried his body to the police station.
Shortly before this, in the early hours of Monday, Babu’s mother had gone to the police station to complain that her son had gone missing. Even as police were conducting vehicle and road searches to locate Babu, Jomon reached the station, carrying Babu’s body on his shoulder.
It is suspected that Jomon took revenge on Babu for having leaked information about his activities.
Jomon had earlier been a gang leader in Kottayam, but was later slapped with the Kerala Anti-social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA) and prohibited from entering the district.
The incident comes at a time when the state police force is trying to check the activities of criminals in the state.
The drive against criminals gathered more steam recently following the violent killings of a Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leader and a BJP leader, both in Alappuzha district, within hours of each other.
State police chief Anil Kant has intensified operations against gangsters in the state, leading to the arrest of 13,032 of them during three weeks of December-January and the seizure of 5,987 mobile phones from them.
The highest number of arrests of gangsters were made in Thiruvananthapuram Rural (1,506), Alappuzha (1,322), Kollam City (1,054) and Kasaragod (1,020).
Condemning the incident in Kottayam, Opposition leader V.D. Satheesan said if the situation continued, the Opposition would be compelled to demand chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to relinquish his additional role of home minister.
