Pistol waving incident: FIR registered against Kerala MLA

An FIR was today registered against senior Kerala MLA P C George on a complaint by some estate workers that he brandished his pistol and threatened to kill them during his visit to a site near an estate here.

The police said George has been booked on charges of "attempting to commit culpable homicide and uttering any obscene song, ballad or words in or near any public place" based on the estate workers' complaint.

The case was registered after the workers recorded their statement, the police said.

George had yesterday waved a pistol at a group of estate workers, who allegedly shouted slogans and "challenged" him during his visit to the site near the estate at Mundakkayam to take stock of a land dispute.

The MLA, who represents Poonjar in the state assembly, had said he "displayed" the pistol when a "group of goons challenged" him while he was visiting 52 poor families staying near the estate.

Members of the families staying in the area came out in support of George, saying he was forced to pull out the pistol after he was threatened by "goons" who reached there to "forcefully" evict them.

Meanwhile, a joint trade union council at Mundakkayam today called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal to protest the MLA's "goondaism".

Visuals aired by various television channels had shown George standing amid some people and waving the pistol when they shouted slogans at him.

The MLA had said he visited the place after members of 52 poor families who have been staying on the banks of a river adjacent to the estate for several decades complained that "goons" were using abusive language and "showing violent behaviour" towards them during nights.

"They (the goons) challenged me to take out the gun. I then displayed the Czech pistol I was carrying... just to convince them that I am carrying one. It is a licenced gun," George, who won as an independent in the assembly polls last year, had said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)