Four members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, have been arrested in Kerala for trying to ram their vehicle into the ministerial car of Minister KT Jaleel at Paripally in Kollam on Sunday evening.
A collision was avoided as the driver in the minister’s car applied the brakes at the right time.
A First Information Report was registered by the police and the car used has been taken into custody. According to reports, Yuva Morcha workers from Ellipuram in Kalluvathukal were arrested in the case. The accused have been identified as Abhijit, Vipin Raj, Praveen and Vaishnav. They were arrested by the Pallipuram police shortly after the incident.
The four have been booked under Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 145 (joining or continuing in unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code, read with Section 3(1) of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (mischief causing damage to public property).
Reports state that the investigation has been intensified as the police believe there are more accused in the case.
Across Kerala, protests have broken out demanding the resignation of KT Jaleel, Minister for Higher Education, after he was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a consignment of copies of the Holy Quaran brought from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The minister was quizzed by the ED with regard to an alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) as it is alleged that he accepted the consignments through diplomatic channels violating FCRA norms. The ED recorded his statement on Sunday.
Despite heavy rainfall in several places, opposition parties mainly the Congress and the BJP staged protests in several places including Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Idukki etc, demanding Jaleel’s resignation.
The protest also turned violent in many places in Thiruvananthapuram and the police had to resort to batons, water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The alleged FCRA violation was exposed after the Minister’s name came up in connection with Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case in Kerala. The Minister said that Swapna was contacted on the directions of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, where she was an employee, in connection with gifts distributed from the consulate as part of Ramadan celebrations.