Congress members who protested against CM Pinarayi inside aircraft get bail

The Congress workers had shouted slogans inside an IndiGo airlines flight against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the gold smuggling case.
Congress workers who protested on flight against Pinarayi Vijayan over gold smuggling case
Congress workers who protested on flight against Pinarayi Vijayan over gold smuggling case
Written by:

Three Congress workers who shouted slogans inside an IndiGo airlines flight against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan were granted bail by the Kerala High Court on Thursday. The incident occurred last week when Vijayan was returning from Kannur and the flight had landed in Thiruvanthapuram.

Visuals had emerged of the Congress workers sloganeering and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) convener EP Jayarajan, who was also onboard the flight,  pushing the two Congress workers away. One of the Congress workers had managed to slip out of the aircraft and was in hiding, and filed an anticipatory bail plea, while the two others who shouted slogans were remanded to judicial custody.

While the two who were arrested have now got bail from Kerala High Court, the third Congress worker has also secured anticipatory bail from court. The three have been asked to surrender their passport and have to deposit Rs 50,000 each.

After being released from the jail, the two Congress workers said the truth will come out soon on what exactly happened.

CM Pinarayi has been facing protests from Congress and the BJP, who launched a massive protest demanding his resignation in the wake of the revelations by Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. Swapna had said that Vijayan, his wife and their daughter were all involved in smuggling of currency and gold.

The CPI(M) has said that the Congress workers were “aiming for the life of CM Pinarayi” and that “had it not been for the timely intervention of Jayarajan and the CM’s security, his life would have been in danger.”

In court, the two Congress workers said all what they did was shouted slogans twice and nothing else had happened. 

CPI(M) Kannur secretary MV Jayarajan said that bail should not have been granted to the Congress workers as this was a well-planned conspiracy against the Chief Minister. 

Meanwhile, the Congress has dismissed the airlines report on the incident, saying that it was fudged and that it did not represent a true and fair view. They approached the airlines' higher officials, who have constituted a probe team under a retired judge.

One of the protesters, who is a school teacher at a government school in the home town of Jayarajan, has been suspended from service by the school management.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com