Police officer arrested for attack on scribe

Saturday May 21, 2011 02:21:47 PM, IANS

Kollam (Kerala): A senior police officer, who allegedly played a role in a brutal attack on journalist V.B. Unnithan, was arrested Saturday, police said.

Santhosh M. Nair, a deputy superintendent of police, has been arrested for his involvement in the April 16 attack, said S. Sreejith, deputy inspector general of Kerala Police.

"Nair will be now presented in a court in Kollam. The accused owned up to the attack on Unnithan and he has been arraigned as an accused. Already four people are in judicial custody," Sreejith told IANS.

Unnithan, who works for vernacular daily 'Mathrubhumi', was attacked by a group of armed men when he was returning from work on April 16. The severely injured scribe was taken to a hospital and is yet to be discharged.

Earlier, protests were raised in the media at the slow progress of investigations in the case. After a series of protest marches by journalists, the government took up the probe seriously and Sreejith was appointed to head the inquiry. A major breakthrough came when early this week, police arrested the prime accused Santhosh, a businessman.

Sreejith said the arrested police officer allegedly had a grouse against the scribe who had last year reported about some undesirable activities in which the now arrested police officer was involved.

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