Kerala In-Flight Protest Case: Congress's Sabarinadhan Arrested, Gets Bail

The ongoing political row in Kerala over the in-flight protest staged by Youth Congress activists against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the police probing the case arresting Congress leader K S Sabarinadhan, accusing him of hatching a conspiracy behind the action.

In a setback to the LDF government in the state, a court here granted bail to Sabarinathan later in the day.

The court, while granting bail, directed him to appear before the investigating officer in the next three days for interrogation and produce his mobile phone if required by the investigating officer. He has also been asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000.

Emerging from the court after securing bail, Sabarinadhan, flanked by Congress MLAs P C Vishnunath and Shafi Parambil, lashed out at Chief Minister Vijayan calling him a "coward" who fears people's protest and alleged that the state under his rule has become a "banana republic." Sabarinadhan, who is also the vice-president of the state youth congress, denied charges that he participated in the conspiracy to target the CM inside the aircraft.

He said the Youth Congress will intensify its protest against the Chief Minister in the gold smuggling issue. Leader of Opposition in the Assembly V D Satheesan said the court's decision was a severe setback to the Chief Minister. He also said the UDF protest against the gold smuggling will be intensified further.

Earlier in the day, alleging "high-level conspiracy" behind the police move, the Congress claimed that information about the arrest of Sabarinadhan was first revealed in a court here when it was considering his anticipatory bail plea.

Police, however, claimed that Sabarinadhan was summoned by Valiyathura police station here in the morning for questioning and his arrest was recorded at 10.50 AM.

An ex-MLA and son of late Congress leader G Karthikeyan, Sabarinadhan spoke to the media while being taken to the hospital for medical examination rejecting the police version regarding his arrest. He claimed that his arrest was recorded at 12.30 PM.

Condemning the arrest of Sabarinadhan, Satheesan said it was an "anti-democratic" act of the CPI(M)-led government. "It cannot be accepted," the Congress leader said.

"Sabarinadhan was arrested following a conspiracy at the highest level of the government. He has been charged with attempt to murder. He will be protected politically and legally," Satheesan told reporters.

The police had on Monday served notice to Sabarinadhan for questioning as part of investigation into the incident of in-flight protest staged by Youth Congress activists against the Chief Minister.

The action comes after a screenshot of a purported chat from a WhatsApp group went viral. In the chat, Sabarinadhan purportedly suggested members of the group to protest onboard the aircraft.

The Congress leader was arrested on a day the opposition UDF targeted the Left government over its refusal to register a case against senior CPI(M) leader E P Jayarajan for allegedly manhandling the two Youth Congress activists who raised slogans against the Chief Minister in the aircraft.

Raising the issue in the Assembly, the opposition leader said, "Our children (Youth Congress activists) raised slogans but Jayarajan assaulted them." Referring to the three-week flying ban imposed by private airliner IndiGo against Jayarajan, Satheesan said the airline understood this and gave a "higher punishment" to the CPI(M) leader.

The Chief Minister, in his reply, dismissed the Opposition demand seeking legal action against Jayarajan, who is also a former minister, and said the LDF convener was in fact protecting the CM from the attackers.

Vijayan said the probe indicates that Youth Congress workers including its top leadership conspired to create this incident.

Meanwhile, the Youth Congress said it will strengthen the protest against the Chief Minister over the issue.

Shafi Parambil, MLA and state president of the Indian Youth Congress, told the media that the arrest shows that the Chief Minister was afraid of even a small protest.

"If an organisation decides to show black flags, how can it become a murder attempt or how is it a terror act. This shows that the Chief Minister is a coward. He is not even ready to face a black flag protest," Parambil said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)