Mob fury at Erattupetta

KOTTAYAM: A group of people unleashed violence at Erattupetta town on Thursday citing errors in the enrolment of data in the National Population Register (NPR). The crowd of around 1,500, without the banner of any political party or clear-cut leadership, declared a hartal in Erattupetta town and blocked the traffic and forced shops to close down.The violence and untoward incidents were related to the controversy over the omission of the name ‘Erattupetta’ from the NPR, which was collected on Wednesday, in some part of Erattupetta panchayat.Instead of Erattupetta, the name was entered as ‘Aruvithara PO’ which triggered the sentiments of a group people. The mob attacked a police jeep and locked down the employees, who were on duty at the Aruvithara Post Office.The mob blocked the traffic in the town and attacked mediapersons and seized their cameras and video cameras forcibly. The agitators also took away some mobile phones from a shop.“The police have registered a case against a group of identifiable persons for destroying the police jeep and obstructing the police from carrying out their duty,” said Pala DySP Ramesh Kumar. However, he said that nobody has filed any complaint regarding the violence.There were allegations that a particular community had triggered the violence.