Kannur (Kerala) | Police investigating the alleged assault on former Health Minister Veena George have dropped serious charges, including attempted murder, against KSU activists after finding no evidence to substantiate the allegations, officials said.
The case relates to an incident on February 25, when five Kerala Students' Union activists were arrested for staging a protest at Kannur Railway Station against alleged instances of medical negligence in the state while George was present there.
In the FIR registered by the Railway Police, the activists were accused of attempting to murder the minister and attacking her with a weapon.
Following the incident, George was admitted to a hospital after complaining of neck pain.
The episode triggered violence in parts of Kannur district, including alleged attacks on Congress offices by CPI(M) workers.
Police officers said a detailed investigation found no evidence of either an attempt on the minister's life or the use of any weapon against her.
Sources said multiple video recordings, including CCTV footage, were examined as part of the probe.
Based on the findings, police filed a charge sheet before the jurisdictional magistrate's court, dropping the attempted murder charge and other serious offences that had been included in the FIR.
The charge sheet retained offences under Sections 189(2) (unlawful assembly), 191(2) (rioting), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 121(1) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt to deter a public servant from discharging official duty) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
It also retained charges under Sections 132 (assault or use of criminal force against a public servant) and 190 (every member of an unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of a common object) of the BNS, besides Sections 147 (trespass) and 145 (nuisance) of the Indian Railways Act.
