Following massive public pressure, Kerala police suspended Sub Inspector (SI) Jimmy Jose for the death of a Hindu man brought to Tripunithura Hill Palace police station in Ernakulam, alleging reckless driving. Relatives and locals demanded legal action against all the officers involved and protested in front of the police station. Citizens claimed that the death of a 53-year-old father of two resulted from Kerala police brutality. Later, they dispersed after being assured that a detailed probe would be held.

Manoharan, an Irumpanam Farmer’s colony resident, collapsed and allegedly died at the Hill Palace police station. Police claimed that no one had physically harmed Manoharan, and the CCTV visuals at the station will prove this. Locals argued that Manoharan was assaulted before reaching the station.

Manoharan was immediately taken to the Tripunithura Taluk Hospital but was shifted to a private hospital in Kochi due to his critical condition. The police said that the death was confirmed there. A post-mortem report confirmed that he died due to a heart attack. His unfortunate death was confirmed around 9 pm on Saturday.

Around 8.30 pm, Manoharan, driving a two-wheeler, was arrested by the police for not stopping the vehicle during a routine vehicle check. A policeman gestured with his hands, asking Manoharan to stop. Witnesses said that the victim stopped the vehicle a few meters ahead of the police jeep, but it triggered an angry reaction from the policemen.

According to the locals present there, a policeman standing near the police jeep rushed towards Manoharan, removed his helmet, and slapped Manoharan on his face. The shivering victim immediately started sweating. He told the police he stopped out of reach, fearing Kerala police. Officers produced a breath analyzer, but the result was negative.

Locals attested that Manoharan was a well-behaved man who never consumed alcohol. Yet, officers bundled him into the jeep and assaulted Manoharan even as they drove away. Even though he was still palpitating, the police did not take him to the hospital.

Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said that Manoharan died due to custodial torture. “The Hill Palace police station has of late become infamous for custodial torture, led by its Circle Inspector (CI). The police officials involved in the incident must be charged with murder. Only the SI has been suspended while there are covert attempts to save the CI,” he added. There are allegations that such statements are to divert attention from the erring SI Jose.

Terming the death a murder, former judge of Kerala High Court B Kemal Pasha asked why the police had taken him to the station when it was evident that he had not been driving under the influence of alcohol. The police could use reasonable force only if anyone resisted arrest, he added.

BJP President K Surendran alleged that Vijayan thinks the Kerala police is only a system to provide security to him. Criminal elements in Kerala police are running loose in the state, destroying law and order. He alleged police tyranny and demanded that a case of murder be filed against the CI and policemen responsible for the death of Manoharan in police custody.

Surendran accused the Pinarayi government of helping officers that intelligence reports allege have criminal connections. Last October, HinduPost reported a National Investigation Agency (NIA) statement that 873 Popular Front of India (PFI) terrorists had infiltrated the Kerala Police. The communist regime has refused to investigate or dismiss such officers.

Kerala police frequently harass and physically assault decent citizens, even in this day and age. The Kerala DGP regularly issues circulars informing officers that they should not use force while on traffic rule enforcement duty.

Hindus are easy targets since they do not assemble and indulge in the violence that Abrahamics resort to. At best, a few Hindus gather outside the erring police station and protest peacefully.

Kerala police claimed the district Crime Branch had begun a probe into the brutal custodial death. Law and order in the state are in shambles, but CM Pinarayi Vijayan refuses to hand over the Home Ministry to anyone else.

Hindu trust in the Kerala police is at an all-time low. Officers treat violent Abrahamics with kid gloves and reserve atrocities for law-abiding Hindus. Unless drastic measures are undertaken urgently, the situation might become too demanding for politicians.

Incidentally, Tripunithara is one of Kerala’s last bastions of Hindu culture and home to the famous Sri Poornatrayeesha Temple. This is also allegedly why the communists and Abrahamics have reserved it for ‘special treatment.’ Most educated young Hindus have left for greener pastures in different cities of Bharat and other countries, leaving behind their parents.

Tripunithara Hill Palace, built in 1865 by the Maharaja Of Kochi, is the largest archaeological museum in Kerala and was the administrative center of the erstwhile Kochi state. The palace was handed over to the Government of Kerala by the Kochi Royal Family in 1980 and taken over by the Archaeological Department in 1986. 

Manoharan was the sole breadwinner of his family, comprising his wife, two children, and aged parents. Protests rocked the station’s premises and the Kochi-Kottayam highway that passes through Thripunithura on Sunday. The State Human Rights Commission Chairman Antony Dominic directed the District Police Chief (Kochi City) to conduct a probe and submit a report.

Manoharan is survived by his wife, Sini, and children, Arjun and Sachin.