Dramatic scenes outside Kerala court as police try to arrest Ernakulam DCC chief

Kochi, Mar 6 (PTI) Dramatic scenes unfolded outside a court in Kothamangalam on Wednesday when the police attempted to arrest Ernakulam District Congress Committee President Mohammed Shiyas shortly after he and Congress MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan were granted bail in a case related to a recent protest.

In visuals of the incident aired on TV channels, police are seen trying to arrest Shiyas who rushes inside the court to escape from them. Thereafter, a senior police officer and Congress party workers are seen engaging in a heated exchange inside the court compound over the attempted arrest of the Ernakulam DCC president. Kuzhalnadan, who was also present there, challenged the police, questioning their move to arrest Shiyas while inside the court complex.
The Congress MLA told PTI that the incident in the lower court occurred after they got bail in an earlier case. They were speaking to mediapersons and coming back into the court premises when the police tried to make their move.

In a related development, Shiyas moved the Kerala High Court seeking protection from arrest and it granted him relief till March 15.Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly V D Satheesan later told the media that the cases against the two Congress leaders were false.
He said that after Kuzhalnadan and Shiyas were granted bail by the court, the police tried to arrest the DCC president in another case. TV visuals showed a large number of police personnel waiting on the court premises while Shiyas was inside the courtroom. Satheesan further said that the latest case in which Shiyas is the main accused is in connection with the protests held by party workers against his arrest two days ago.

“It is a joke. Police made Shiyas the main accused in a case for a crime allegedly committed when he was in their custody. They should understand that they cannot suppress protests with such tactics,” he said. Following the police move to arrest Shiyas in the new case, he moved the Kerala High Court which directed the investigating officer not to arrest him till March 15.
“On consideration of the facts, the rival submissions made across the bar and after perusing the FIR and remand report, and on prima facie being satisfied that the offence attributed against the petitioner (Shiyas) does not seem to be attracted, I am of the view that the petitioner is entitled to an interim order as prayed for.

“Resultantly, I direct the Investigating Officer in crime No.366/2024 of the Kothamangalam Police, Ernakulam, not to arrest the petitioner till the date of next hearing,” Justice C S Dias said and listed the matter for further hearing on March 15. Meanwhile, the trial court is hearing the bail pleas of Kuzhalnadan, Shiyas and two others in another case lodged against them for allegedly attacking police personnel when they tried to take the body of a woman who died in an elephant attack in Idukki district for a post mortem examination on Monday morning, the Congress MLA said.

Kuzhalnadan and Shiyas were arrested on Monday night in connection with the alleged untoward incidents during a protest at Kothamangalam near here. They were released on interim bail by a magisterial court in the early hours of Tuesday morning and during the same day, the court heard the matter again and extended till today the relief granted to both of them. The protest on Monday was led by Kuzhalnadan and Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose with hundreds of local residents joining in.They refused to hand over the body of the elephant-attack victim, Indira Ramakrishnan, for post-mortem. A scuffle broke out with the police during the protest when they tried to take away the body for the autopsy.

According to the police, the body was forcibly taken from the mortuary for the protest.
However, the victim’s husband told the media today that he and his son consented to the body being used for the protest. The 70-year-old woman died after being attacked by a wild elephant in the Kanjiraveli area in Idukki on Monday. She was trampled by the elephant while serving breakfast to her husband in a rubber plantation near the forest area. Despite being rushed to a nearby hospital in Kothamangalam, she succumbed to her injuries.