Protest against waste treatment factory: residents reiterate demand to end police action

A day after the district-level facilitation and monitoring committee was asked to examine the alleged pollution from the Ambayathode-based slaughterhouse waste treatment factory, residents under a local action committee continued their silent protest, reiterating the demand to end all door-to-door searches by police in the name of nabbing those accused of having direct involvement in a recent protest near the factory, which ended up in violence.

Expressing solidarity with the protesters, Welfare Party of India activists took out a march to the Thamarassery police station on Thursday (October 30), demanding the immediate withdrawal of all “illegally registered cases” and the release of all previously arrested persons. They complained that the police were framing more cases against residents to weaken the ongoing agitation against the “polluting factory”.

A section of local merchants who recently observed a hartal flaying the police action declared their open support to the “suffering residents”, alleging that several local residents had gone into hiding, afraid of police harassment. They said the merchants would supply provisions free of cost to such families as a gesture of solidarity. 

An all-party meeting chaired by District Collector Snehil Kumar Singh on Wednesday (October 29) had directed the police to stop “hostile searches” in response to public resentment and complaints. However, police operations continued as usual, leading to the arrest of two more persons accused of having key involvement in triggering a violent protest.  The action committee leaders alleged that the meeting was a farce, as none of their members were invited to the discussions. 

Meanwhile, senior officers overseeing the investigation maintained that the searches were part of lawful efforts to trace those already identified through surveillance cameras and were accountable for the violence. They said a group of “organised criminal elements” had infiltrated the protest and led to large-scale destruction. The officers said that 14 suspects had already been arrested and made it clear that other identified ones would also be apprehended soon.

Revenue department sources said a panel of experts, including the District Collector, people’s representatives, panchayat members, and senior government department officials, would be constituted if it was required to review the public complaints again. They also pointed out that the factory was opened by complying with the existing rules and regulations, and it would be further reviewed by the district-level facilitation and monitoring committee.

It was on October 21 that the violent protest near the factory left over 25 activists and 20 police officers injured. There were cases against more than 500 identified persons on charges, including rioting, unlawful assembly and attempt to murder. The legal action was intensified after the formation of a special investigation team under the direct supervision of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, who described the incident as an “organised attack”.