Date:28/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/28/stories/2008082855891100.htm

Kerala

College hostels a haven for criminals

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram:

At least two government-run college hostels in the city have become a haven for criminals fleeing the law. A set of Left student activists having links with the underworld are hosting wanted men in college hostels, according to police sources.

They cited the recent arrest of Kannadi Shaji, wanted in several cases including attempted murder and ransacking of a public office, as a case in point.

The suspect, who was high on the wanted list of the police in connection with an incident of gang land violence at Kowdiar early this year, ‘confessed’ to investigators that certain Left student leaders had harboured him for a long period at the University College Hostel and later at the Government Law College hostel. The police said they verified his statement and found it to be true. The police said wanted men and absconding gang leaders from other districts in the State also stayed posing as students or their guests in government-run hostels in the city. The police have scarce information on the presence of strangers at such hostels. They are also reluctant to verify those staying in college hostels for fear of being accused of harassing students. The police said they had also been at the receiving end of Left student leaders.

Early this year, the Cantonment police arrested three Left wing student leaders on the charge of assaulting a police constable at Bakery Junction. Soon a large group of student activists gathered in front of the police station demanding the release of their leaders. Some of them trespassed into the station house, creating a tense situation.

The police are also concerned that some major political parties and youth organisations have been infiltrated by a set of anti-social elements who are using their political status as a cover for their illegal activities. Genuine political activists are often the target of such elements.

The police have information that certain college hostels in the city are recruiting grounds for fundamentalist and divisive elements posing as student activists. Officers said a suburban government-aided college in the district was the “hot bed of new generation” SIMI sympathisers.