How Kakkayam Became Kerala's Emergency-era House of Horror

Rajan's death stands as a chilling record of police torture on naxalites & sympathisers

- LAKSHMI ATHIRA @ Kozhikode

The infamous Kakkayam concentration camp and the disappearance of P Rajan remain some of the darkest and most disturbing episodes from the Emergency period in Kerala, and perhaps the entire country. The relentless legal battle waged by Rajan's father, T V Eachara Warrier, not only sought to trace his missing son but also exposed a chilling record of police torture and human rights violations inflicted on naxalites and their sympathisers at the camp.

The chain of events that led to the Kakkayam horror began with a naxalite attack on the Kayanna (Koorachundu) police station on February 28, 1976. A group of naxalites—M M Somasekharan, Murali Kannampally, C H Achuthan, Sugathan, Bhargavan, and K Vasu—stormed the station and escaped with a firearm. In retaliation, the police launched a large-scale crackdown the very next day, targeting young men from nearby areas including Kayanna, Koorachundu, and Kakkayam. Dozens were picked up and taken to a makeshift detention centre at the KSEB quarters in Kakkayam, where they were subjected to brutal torture.