Driver of Kerala minister’s private secretary arrested in assault on woman: Police

Thiruvananthapuram:

A contract driver of employees of Kerala Water Resources Minister Roshi Augustine was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a woman when she recently went for a morning walk near the museum area here. Police said.

An official of the Sangrahalaya police station said that the accused driver has also been arrested recently for entering a house.

According to a statement issued by his office, in view of the police registering the arrest of the contract driver for two offences, the minister ordered the immediate removal of his personal secretary from the post of driver.

He also directed the water authority to investigate and take appropriate action against the accused driver.

According to the police, the accused allegedly used a vehicle allotted by the water authority to the minister’s private secretary to commit the crimes.

However, while being taken to collect evidence, the accused told reporters here that he was being falsely implicated in the case and denied having committed any of the two offences.

He claimed, “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything. I’m being falsely implicated. A lot of evidence is being imposed on me. My wife is being threatened to admit certain things.”

Meanwhile, both the Congress and the BJP pulled up the ruling Left government over the issue.

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that women are not safe under the LDF rule in Kerala.

He said that removing the driver from service will not remove the responsibility of the minister and the government for the alleged action.

BJP state president K Surendran told the media in Kottayam that the two incidents indicate the failure of the police.

He also said that the government and ministers cannot escape responsibility for the actions of the accused.

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)