A battery of senior Congress leaders in Kerala, including MPs and MLAs, suffered from suffocation, and some were even hospitalised on Saturday after police fired tear gas shells near a stage erected in front of the office of the State Police Chief, following the Opposition party's protest that turned violent. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, KPCC chief and Parliamentarian K Sudhakaran, MPs Shashi Tharoor, Kodikkunnil Suresh, Adoor Prakash, K Muraleedharan, Jebi Mather, senior leader and MLA Ramesh Chennithala, other MLAs were on the stage when a tear gas shell blasted behind the venue. Many senior leaders were seen developing uneasiness and discomfort in the usage of tear gas shells and workers could be seen running to them and shifting them to safety. While the Congress and UDF leaders alleged that it was a “premeditated attack” targeting their life, the ruling CPI(M) and LDF justified the police action.
