Chaos descended on the Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (KVASU) headquarters at Pookode in the district on March 4 with the Kerala Students’ Union (KSU) activists clashing with the police at the entrance of the university.
The violence unfolded when KSU workers marched to the university headquarters raising a slew of demands, including handing over the case in connection with the death of J.S. Sidharthan, a second-year Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry student, to Central agencies for an impartial investigation.
Their demands
The protesters also raised demands such as providing a solatium of ₹1 crore to the family of Sidharthan, adopting legal action against the university officials involved in the crime, dismissing the teachers who protected the accused, registering murder case against the accused, and the resignation of the Chief Minister.
Students from Kannur, Kasaragod, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Malappuram districts, under the aegis of the KSU State committee, attempted to enter the university campus by pulling down the barricades set up at the entrance to block the march.
The police responded by discharging truck-mounted water cannon several times. The pressurised jets of water felled several students, but , the police could not disperse the protesters. The protesters then threw stones and sticks at the police. Finally, the police baton-charged the students after firing around 12 rounds of tear gas shells. Many of the protesters were injured, four of them seriously, in the police action. They were admitted to the Vythiri taluk hospital.
Traffic blocked
The KSU activists complained that the police refused to even shift the injured to the hospital. Senior Congress leaders in the district, including T. Siddique, MLA, rushed to the spot and held discussions with the students’ union leaders. Later, the union activists blocked traffic on the Kozhikode-Kollegal National Highway for around 15 minutes objecting to the police action.
Protest marches were also taken out under the aegis of the Muslim Students’ Federation (MSF). The police used water cannon to disperse the march after some MSF activists tried to enter the university by crossing the barricades.
