Congress, UDF rally around Shafi after police attack at Perambra

The Congress and the United Democratic Front (UDF) on Saturday (October 11, 2025) put up a united front of protest against the police attack on Shafi Parambil, Vadakara MP, at Perambra on Friday (October 10, 2025) night, which left him with nasal bone fractures requiring a minor surgery.

Opening a protest meet organised on the Perambra bus stand premises in the evening, K.C. Venugopal, All-India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge of organisation, said the party would not allow police or anyone target Mr. Parambil.

The attack against the Vadakara MP happened after activists of the UDF and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) workers came face to face following a ‘hartal’ called by the former in the town, which was a fallout of a students’ union election in a government college in Kozhikode.

Mr. Venugopal said that the LDF, especially the CPI(M), was worried over the popularity of Mr. Parambil after his victory against party veteran K.K. Shailaja in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. He alleged that the LDF Government was trying to cover up its role in the “theft of gold plates” at the Sabarimala temple by targeting Mr. Parambil.

Though senior police officials initially claimed that there had been no ‘lathi’ charge against the MP, visuals released by the media later proved them wrong. The Congress leader also said, the police personnel who led the attack would have to face consequences if the UDF comes to power in the State after the 2026 Assembly polls. Deepa Dasmunshi, AICC general secretary, said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was answerable to what had happened to Mr. Parambil.

There was tension for a while during the event after the UDF workers raised slogans against police personnel on duty on the premises. They demanded the police who could not protect Mr. Parambil the previous day need not be stationed there. Senior party leaders tried to calm them down.

LDF district leaders, meanwhile, accused Mr. Parambil of instigating violence on Friday (October 10, 2025) night. They said that though LDF workers returned after their protest, the UDF activists waited for over an hour for the MP to arrive and unleashed violence against the police. They also claimed that the president of the Perambra grama panchayat was manhandled by UDF activists during their ‘hartal’.

Mr. Parambil is recovering at a private hospital in Kozhikode city, where he was admitted with serious nasal injuries. A medical bulletin released from the hospital said that he was found to have a fracture of the left nasal bone with displacement, fracture of the right nasal bone, and buckling of the nasal septum. A surgical procedure to set them right was conducted and Mr. Parambil was shifted to the intensive care unit for post-operative observation, the bulletin added.

Opening a protest march taken out to the office of the Inspector-General (IG) of Police in Kozhikode earlier in the morning, M.K. Raghavan, Kozhikode MP, said that the party would approach the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges in the Lok Sabha to seek action against the police personnel who attacked Mr. Parambil. The Congress workers also staged a ‘dharna’ outside the IG’s office.