Kozhikode: Opposition Leader VD Satheesan has strongly criticised the police for disrupting the Wisdom Students Conference at Perinthalmanna on Tuesday. In a statement, Satheesan described the incident, in which police interrupted a conference focused on drug abuse awareness, as undemocratic and condemnable.

“The police arrived and created a disturbance during the concluding speech of the event,” Satheesan said. He questioned the message the government and police intended to convey by interfering with a programme aimed at public welfare and the prevention of drug use.

“The government ought to support any campaign against drug abuse, irrespective of who organises it. The incident at Perinthalmanna clearly reveals a lack of sincerity in the government’s anti-drug initiatives. The actions of the police officers involved are entirely unacceptable,” he added.

Satheesan also called on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who heads the Home Department, to immediately order an inquiry into the disruption and to take strict action against the officials responsible.