Kannur (Kerala) | Kerala Health Minister Veena George has shown some relief from the treatment she is undergoing at the Government Medical College here for a neck injury she allegedly sustained during a protest by activists of the Congress student wing, KSU, a day ago, a medical bulletin said on Thursday.

The bulletin said the 13-member VIP medical board constituted to examine the minister assessed her during the day and found that she had experienced some relief from the “severe radicular pain” in her right arm and the back of her head due to the alleged injury.

The minister’s high blood pressure is being controlled with medication, and her pain is being treated according to the protocol of pain specialist Dr Bindu M, the bulletin said.

The medical board also assessed the MRI scan and MR angiogram reports of the minister, it added.

According to the MRI report, the severe pain George is experiencing is due to pressure on the cervical exiting nerve roots at two points on the discs between the vertebrae in her neck, the bulletin said.

However, there is no need for emergency surgery at present, the medical board said.

As the minister requires constant monitoring, the board decided that her treatment should continue in the ICU.

Furthermore, as she is not permitted to travel in her current physical condition, it was decided to continue her treatment in the ICU of the Kannur Government Medical College Hospital, the bulletin said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, earlier in the day termed as “pure lies” the claims by CPI(M) leaders and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan that Kerala Students Union (KSU) activists attacked George a day ago in Kannur.

Satheesan alleged that based on these “lies”, the CPI(M) unleashed widespread violence against Congress workers and offices across the state.

On the other hand, CPI(M) leader M V Jayarajan claimed that a “suicide attacker” had attempted to murder the minister, who allegedly suffered injuries during the KSU protest at Kannur railway station.

According to the FIR lodged against the KSU activists, based on a complaint by the minister’s gunman, she was attacked with a weapon by the protesters.

The activists were booked for various offences, including attempted murder, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Railway Act, and were remanded to judicial custody.