Four people, including two staff members of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad office, were arrested on Friday, August 19, for allegedly causing damage to a photograph of Gandhi nearly two months ago when an SFI (Students' Federation of India) protest march led to violence on the premises. On June 24, SFI activists took out a protest march towards the Wayanad MP's office in Wayanad on the Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) issue, and vandalised the office. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case arrested four persons on Friday after summoning them for interrogation. They were later released on bail, a senior police officer said.
The arrested people were charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot). Congress leader and Kalpetta MLA T Siddique said that two of the arrested persons were staff of Rahul Gandhi's office – one Personal Assistant (PA) and a helper – while two others were party workers. Strongly protesting against the arrest, he alleged that the charges against the Congress workers were fabricated. "The arrest was done with the complete knowledge of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. He took such a step to appease the BJP ruling the Centre," Siddique alleged.
KPCC (Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee) president K Sudhakaran also alleged the police action against the Congress workers was "a part of a conspiracy centered around the Chief Minister's Office". "Kerala government and police are taking the approach of making the plaintiff the accused. The arrest is politically motivated. The Chief Minister should clarify on what evidence the innocent Congress workers were arrested. Even before the police investigation started, the Chief Minister had announced that the accused were Congressmen," Sudhakaran said in a statement.
CPI(M) leader and state PWD Minister PA Muhammed Riyas said that the Congress should take disciplinary action against its workers who damaged Gandhi's photo and put the blame on the SFI workers. The Congress had alleged that the photo of Mahatma Gandhi, which was hanging on the wall of Rahul Gandhi's office, was damaged during the vandalism of the Wayanad MP's office at Kalpetta allegedly by SFI activists on June 24. The SFI activists had held a protest march to Rahul Gandhi's office and had allegedly vandalised his office claiming inaction on his behalf in connection with the issue of Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) around forests.