The Congress in Kerala has accused the police of fudging the arrest record of former MLA KS Sabarinadhan. Sabarinadhan was on Tuesday arrested in connection with the in-flight protest staged by Youth Congress activists against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan last month. He was summoned by the police investigating the case at Valiyathura police station. Sabarinadhan had moved for anticipatory bail, and when the bail plea came up in court, the police informed the court that he had already been arrested at 10.50 am. The Congress has however alleged that the arrest took place only at 12.30 pm, but the police lied to the court.
Palakkad MLA Shafi Parambil told the media the police summoned Sabarinadhan under section 160 of the CrPC that allows police to summon a witness. “It was at 11 am that the court heard his bail application. By 11.02 or 11.03 am, the court orally directed the Additional Public Prosecutor that the arrest shall not be made. At the time, the Public Prosecutor did not submit to the court that the arrest was recorded. It was only by 11.45 am that it was submitted that the arrest was recorded at 10.50 am. This arrest should be viewed as a fabrication of records. This shows the cowardliness of the government and the Chief Minister of Kerala,” Shafi alleged.
The action against Sabarinadhan comes after a screenshot of a chat from a WhatsApp group went viral. In the chat, Sabarinadhan is purportedly suggesting members of the group to protest onboard the aircraft on June 13. The Chief Minister told the Assembly that the former MLA organised the protest and a sponsor paid Rs 13,000 for the flight tickets of the protestors. The two protesters raised slogans against the Chief Minister on the flight and LDF Convener EP Jayarjan got into a scuffle with them.
“If the arrest was made at 10.50 am, then why did the Public Prosecutor not present this to the court initially? The Chief Minister is a coward. He is a cowardly dictator like Prime Minister Modi who has banned certain words in the parliament. The CM is trying to supress the protests against him. We won't be scared of anyone,” Shafi further said. He also declared that the Youth Congress would do a black flag protest throughout the state on July 20.