The Attingal Municipality has placed on suspension two employees for allegedly misbehaving with an elderly fish vendor and destroying the fish she had on sale on August 10.
Junior health inspector Mubarak Ismail and contingent worker Shibu were suspended after the municipal authorities examined their explanations and concluded that they should have shown restraint.
The incident had taken place at the Avanavanchery Junction where the vendor, Alphonsa, was selling fish by the roadside. The municipality employees had allegedly used force to confiscate the fish and dump it into a garbage truck. Visuals of the elderly vendor pleading with the men and lying down on the road to protest had gone viral, sparking outrage.
After the incident snowballed into a controversy, the LDF-ruled municipality issued memos to Mr. Ismail and Mr. Shibu on Monday, demanding an explanation within 48 hours. The explanations were filed on Wednesday.
“The municipality feels that they should have shown restraint,” S. Kumari, chairperson of the municipality said. She, however, denied that the men had assaulted the vendor as was being alleged.
Ms. Kumari pointed out that the municipality has been receiving numerous complaints from the public about the unauthorised roadside sale of fish. Fish vendors have the choice of utilising the space at any of the seven markets in the municipality limits, the chairperson pointed out.
Leader of Opposition V. D. Satheesan, former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy , and former leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala were among the leaders who visited Alphonsa following the incident and offered their support to her.
Reacting to the incident, Minister for Labour V. Sivankutty also had promised stern action in the incident.
