Thiruvananthapuram: On Sunday, political leaders, social activists, and media organisations all decried the government's action after Kerala's Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheeshan called it an example of "intolerance" during police raids at the Asianet studio in Kozhikode.
The Congress leader stated that while the state government was running an anti-drug campaign, CPI-M leaders were actually participating in the drug trade, and that the administration and the CPI-M were feeling the heat as a result of reports that implicated them. He said that the Left administration was seeking to silence any dissent by ordering the raid of a news station's offices and studios, despite the fact that the Kerala Police had previously showed less enthusiasm for such measures in the investigation of homicides.
It has been reported that police in Kozhikode, India, launched a raid on the regional headquarters of the most popular Kerala channel without even obtaining a search order. Kozhikode's assistant superintendent of police Surendran told reporters after the raids that no evidence or files were taken from the channel's headquarters.
Ramesh Chennithala, a senior Congress leader and former Home Minister, also decried the raid at Asianet headquarters, calling it "state terror," but he noted that the government cannot suppress the media by intimidation.
The police searches on the Asianet news office in Kozhikode drew loud protests from the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club. President M.Radhakishnan and Secretary K.N.Sanu issued a statement demanding that the Chief Minister take action to rein in the police, and they promised that a protest march will be held to the DGP's office.
T.Asif Ali, a former Director General of Prosecutions and a legal expert, stated that this action had never been taken by the Kerala Police before.