Police security beefed up at Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi’s office amid protests New

The police have set up an outpost and deployed security personnel at Union Minister and Thrissur MP Suresh Gopi’s office in the city, following mounting criticism over two recent controversies — the arrest of Malayali nuns in Chhattisgarh and the alleged irregularities in the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency’s voter list.

The move comes in the wake of opposition protests. Both the Congress and Left Democratic Front (LDF) had alleged that the voter roll for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls was tampered with, adding names of people who were not permanent residents of the constituency.

Communist Party of India (CPI) leader and the losing candidate in the election V.S. Sunilkumar echoed the charge, going further to question the conduct of the returning officer. The party had demanded a probe into what it alleged to be a significant electoral fraud in the constituency.

District Congress Committee (DCC) president Joseph Tajet claimed that 11 people, including Suresh Gopi’s brother, were added to booth number 116, but their names were missing in the most recent voter roll. “This proves that they were not permanent residents of the constituency,” he alleged.

‘Missing from constituency’

Meanwhile, KSU Thrissur district president Gokul Guruvayur lodged a complaint with Thrissur East Police stating that Suresh Gopi has been missing from the constituency since the arrest of the nuns in Chhattisgarh. The complaint urged police to find out his whereabouts and who was behind his “disappearance.”