Melee in Mayor’s office

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City mayor Tony Cham­many’s chamber witne­ssed unruly scenes on Monday after a group of DYFI activists stormed into his office shouting slogans.

The activists created rowdy scenes and destroyed the furniture and phones in the office and allegedly tried to manhandle the women councillors present there.

The activists demanded the resignation of the mayor against whom a vigilance probe is on in connection with the scam of advertisement display boards on lamp posts.

Later, in a press conference, the mayor criticised the protests as ‘undemocratic and fascist’. “The protestors including CPM councillors Mahesh Kumar, Mumtaz a teacher, P.R. Ranish, V.A Sreejith, CPI councillor C.A. Shakeer tried to physically assault me and the women councillors.

The mayor’s chamber is not a venue for staging protests and it is the CPM’s political fascism,” alleged Chammany. He urged the police authorities to take strict action against the agitators who violated the decorum of the mayor’s office.

Meanwhile, opposition councillor Ranish termed the allegations baseless and said that the activists didn’t try to manhandle the mayor or destroy the office furniture.

“Demanding the resignation of the mayor and town planning committee chairman, DYFI activists planned a march to the town planning committee meeting scheduled to start by 11.30 am.

But, the meeting was deliberately postponed and the councillors entered the mayor’s chamber to know the details.

DYFI activists also entered the office along with the councillors and the police tried to remove the activists forcefully which resulted in a minor brawl. Nobody tried to assault either the mayor or the women councillors,” Ranish explained.