Attack on actor’s car; culprits identified, arrest soon, says Kochi police Commissioner

Kochi: Kochi City police commissioner C H Nagaraju on Tuesday said a non-bailable case has been registered in the matter of vandalising the car of actor Joju George during a road block agitation by the Congress party against the rising fuel prices in the country.

Nagaraju said the visuals of Monday’s incidents are being examined and arrests would be made soon.

”As part of yesterday’s blockade, we have registered two cases. One for blocking the traffic and the second case for vandalising the car of one Joju George. The second case is a non-bailable one and we have started identifying the culprits. Strong action will be taken against them. We will arrest them soon. We have examined the visuals and have started identifying the culprits,” he told the media.

When asked about the complaint filed against the actor by a group of Mahila Congress activists alleging that he abused the women workers, the Commissioner said the police is conducting a preliminary enquiry.

”A case will be registered only after a preliminary enquiry. Prima facie, we understand that the complaint is not true as there is no corroborative evidence in that matter. However, we will examine the visuals properly,” Nagaraju said.

The protest against the hike in fuel price by the Congress district committee in Kochi on Monday has put the party in a spot after filmstar Joju George questioned the blocking of a busy National Highway by the agitators which resulted in an attack on his car, triggering an outpouring of support for the actor from the film industry and the DYFI.

Even as Congress chief K Sudhakaran termed Jojo’s act of questioning the protestors as ‘goondaism,’ Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan said he personally was against protests involving road blocks.

Meanwhile, the film fraternity and the DYFI, the youth organisation of the ruling CPI(M), came out in support of the actor. Police, after considering the actor’s medical test report, said he was not drunk as alleged by the Congress leaders.