In an exclusive interview with Timeline, Ayinoor Vasu alias Grow Vasu, once imprisoned in Kerala’s Kannur Central Jail, has opened up about the harrowing conditions he endured for over seven years.
Grow Vasu was a prominent leader in the 1970 Thirunelli Naxalite operation, during which fellow Naxalite leader Varghese was killed. In the aftermath, Vasu was incarcerated at Kannur Central Prison, where he spent seven years.
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During the interview, Vasu alleges that he was held in continuous solitary confinement without justification, under orders he claims were politically motivated.
“My faeces were stored in a clay pan which I would carry to the bathroom every day to flush and clean. That was my daily routine for years.”
Vasu says he was placed in Cell Number 6 upon entering the prison and remained there, in complete isolation, for seven years and two months.
According to him, he was detained 24 hours a day, with no access to general prison facilities and minimal human contact.
“It was a case involving 27 people, but I was the only one given this kind of punishment. There was no explanation. It was meant to destroy me.”
He alleges that the extreme conditions were imposed under direct orders from the then-government and the city police commissioner, who instructed the jail superintendent to carry out the punishment. Another prisoner, he adds, was treated similarly—but lost his mental stability.
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Vasu reflects on the psychological toll of prolonged isolation, noting that even prisoners with only a few months of detention pleaded with the jail authorities for relief. Despite this, his own confinement continued without review or cause.
The conversation also turned to the controversial death of Naxalite leader Varghese, a case that has stirred public debate and judicial scrutiny in Kerala for decades.
“I realised Varghese’s killing was planned. I came to know of it after my arrest. That punishment—they made sure I would never speak of it.”
Vasu maintains that the treatment he received was not simply punitive, but part of a broader effort to silence him.
