Vizhinjam port stir: 15 catholic priests booked for rioting, attempt to murder

Mutiple cases have been registered against at least 15 Latin Catholic priests including metropolitan Archbishop Thomas J Netto in connection with the violent antiseaport protests that took place at Vizhinjam KeralaIn the FIR lodged over Saturdays violence the police said that the accused have been charged with criminal conspiracy unlawfully assembly and riotingThe police have arraigned metropolitan Archbishop Thomas J Netto Fr Christudas Fr Eugine Perera Lawrence Gulas among others in the caseCases have also been registered against over 110 people and several unidentified over the clashes that broke out in Vizhinjam between two groups on Saturday So far one person has been arrestedGoing against the assurances given to the Kerala High Court the protesters agitating in front of the underconstruction Vizhinjam seaport had on Saturday blocked the trucks carrying construction materials to the siteThe protesters allegedly led by the Latin Catholic church had on November 22 assured the High Court that they would not block any vehicles coming to the Vizhinjam seaportDuring the blockade a section of locals who are in support of the project opposed the presence of protesters leading to a scuffleDuring the protest there was a minor scuffle too Now we have registered nine cases against the protesters and those who oppose the agitation in Vizhinjam a senior police official in the district told PTIAlso Read Authorities will crack down on party leaders ahead of bypoll Dimple YadavMeanwhile Leader of Opposition Congress V D Satheesan said the FIR against the Archbishop was unacceptableCases have been registered against nearly 50 priests This cannot be accepted Now it seems like the Pinarayi Vijayan headed government will do anything for the Adani Group The Latin Churchs allegation that the violence was orchestrated by the government is a serious one he said in a statement on SundaySatheesan said the United Democratic Front had earlier pledged support to the protesters and will continue to do soThe Latin Catholic church which has been leading the protests in the coastal village of Vizhinjam for over 100 days today urged the believers to protest against the Left dispensationCases have been registered under section IPC 143 Unlawful assembly 147 rioting 120B criminal conspiracy 153 Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot 447 criminal trespass 353 Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his dutyThe police have registered a case based on a complaint filed by peoples forum a group of people which supports the project that the antiseaport protesters attacked themAn audio clip has been doing rounds in which one of the priests was heard asking the parishioners to gather at the protest siteMeanwhile Fr Eugine Perera claimed that the state government was not ready to properly rehabilitate the members of the coastal communityThe government which is not ready to properly rehabilitate us is now threatening us with police cases We will not back down Tomorrow the government will move the court against us Perera told media todayHe said the protesters will file an appeal against the courts order on various matters related to the Vizhinjam protestThe High Court had on November 22 warned the protesters that stern action will be taken against them if they failed to remove the obstructionsThe port a Kerala government initiative is currently being developed in a landlord model with a Public Private Partnership component on a design build finance operate and transfer DBFOT basis The private partner Adani Vizhinjam Port Private ltd commenced the construction on December 5 2015 at a cost of Rs 7525 croreThe Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deepwater Multipurpose Seaport authorities had said that 70 per cent of the work has now been completedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever