Kerala CM slams media speculation over probe report on Thrissur pooram disruption

PTI, Sep 24, 2024, 8:34 AM IST

Thrissur: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said there was an attempt to disrupt the iconic Thrissur pooram held this year.

The Chief Minister’s statement came amidst the opposition criticism that the pooram festival was allegedly disrupted by the police for ensuring the victory of the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

At a public rally organised by the CPI(M) on the occasion of Azheekodan Raghavan martyrdom day, Vijayan said he was yet to receive the probe report on the incident from the DGP.

In a scathing attack on a section of the media, Vijayan said even before the report was out, they were speculating about the investigation.

“There was an attempt to disrupt the Thrissur Pooram… As the Chief Minister, I ordered that the investigation report needs to be submitted on the 24th. Today is the 23rd. I will be in Thiruvananthapuram tomorrow. The report is with the DGP. I don’t know what is in it yet,” he said.

“But some right-wing media organisations have widely claimed that certain things are mentioned in this report,” he said.

“How did they (the media) access the report? They say ‘it is understood that…’, ‘it is known that…’ etc. They are writing what they feel like, what they want to write.” He said the report will be out soon.

“Even before that, they are creating a strange feeling in people’s minds that something is wrong in connection with the investigation. Imagine if these news reports are untrue, then these media would be committing a grave betrayal towards the people,” Vijayan said.

On Sunday, news outlets reported that ADGP M R Ajithkumar, ADGP (Law and Order), who was earlier accused by ruling Left-backed MLA P V Anvar of being the mastermind behind disrupting the pooram, has submitted the probe report on the festival disruption.

The Thrissur Pooram, which was held on May 19, was disrupted, and action was taken against the city police commissioner and the assistant commissioner.

The CM had directed the state police chief to file a report on the disruption of the pooram.

Media reports have suggested that Ajithkumar has filed the report, which allegedly claimed that there was no outside intervention.

Criticising the purported report, the Congress party had alleged that the mastermind behind disruption of the pooram has submitted the investigation report on it.

Leader of Opposition in the assembly V D Satheesan had called the report a farce.

For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the wee hours, was held in broad daylight on pooram Day in Thrissur, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.