A foreign tourist was forced to take out bottles of liquor on the roadside on Friday on New Year’s Eve in Kerala’s Kovalam, in a display of alleged police brutality. A police sub-inspector has been suspended following the incident.
On Friday, Steven, a Swedish national living in Kovalam, a showcase beach destination in Kerala, emptied two out of three bottles of liquor on the side of the road after failing to present his purchase bill before the police. He had legally bought liquor from a government-run outlet.
Sub-inspector Shaji, who headed the police team, was suspended after state tourism minister PA Mohammad Riyas raised strong objections to the police action.
“The police action was unfortunate at a time when the government is trying to attract more tourists to the state after the pandemic. This does not match the policy of the government. Such police action will hurt the tourism industry. The issue has been brought to the notice of the Chief Minister,” he said.
The action against the sub-inspector came after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought a report from DGP Anil Kant on the issue.
According to reports, Steven had bought three bottles of liquor – as per norms in Kerala, from a state-run BEVCO outlet in Vellar near Kovalam on Friday afternoon – that a person can carry three liters of liquor sold in the state. While returning from the outlet on his scooter, Steven is flagged off by a police team that is inspecting vehicles as part of a special drive on New Year’s Eve. On checking the scooty, three bottles of liquor were recovered from Steven’s travel bag.
A police officer asked Steven for a purchase bill, which he could not produce because the outlet had not given him the slip. When the foreigner requested that he be allowed to go back to the liquor store and collect the bill, the police asked him to leave the bottles. However, instead of giving up on the plastic bottles, Steven decided to get the wine out of the bottles.
When a journalist started recording the scene, the police asked the foreigner to bring the bill. By then he had emptied two bottles. Steven was allowed to proceed only after he brought the purchase bill from the BEVCO outlet.
After the scene went viral, the police came under attack for their “rude” attitude towards tourists. Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan told the media that the incident showed that the government had lost control of the police. “This incident confirms that the local factions of CPI(M) are controlling the police,” he said.
,