Former Kerala DGP R Sreelekha faces legal trouble after being named an accused in a BJP protest case concerning alleged police assault on party workers in Vattiyoorkavu.
Key Points
- Former Kerala DGP R Sreelekha has been named an accused in a case related to a BJP protest.
- The protest concerned alleged police assault on BJP workers in Vattiyoorkavu.
- Sreelekha was seen chanting a derogatory slogan against the police during the protest.
- The initial police report faced criticism for not including Sreelekha as an accused.
- Deputy Mayor Asha Nath has also been included in the revised accused list.
Kerala's former DGP R Sreelekha has been made an accused in the case related to a BJP protest alleging assault on party workers at Vattiyoorkavu here, police said.
Sreelekha, a BJP councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation, had contested from the Vattiyoorkavu constituency in the April 9 Assembly polls.
She had inaugurated the BJP Mahila Morcha protest led by BJP councillors held outside the Vattiyoorkavu police station, alleging police assault on BJP workers at Nettayam.
Controversy Over Slogans
During the protest, Sreelekha was seen chanting the slogan "poda pulle police", which is widely perceived as derogatory.
Though police had initially registered a case against five BJP leaders and 50 unidentified persons, there was sharp criticism over not naming Sreelekha as an accused despite videos showing her inaugurating the protest and chanting slogans.
Revised Accused List
Police officials said a fresh report was filed before the concerned magistrate's court, which arraigned 15 persons, including Sreelekha, as accused in the case.
Deputy Mayor Asha Nath has also been included in the revised accused list submitted before the court.
Criticism and Defence
Sreelekha drew criticism from leaders of various police associations for raising slogans against the department in which she had served.
Vattiyoorkavu MLA V K Prasanth had also criticised the Thiruvananthapuram City Police Commissioner for allegedly giving special consideration to Sreelekha by not initially including her in the case.
However, Sreelekha has maintained that she had always taken a strong stand against wrongdoing within the police department during her service.
