India
pti-PTI
Right-wing political commentator T G Mohandas was taken into custody from his residence in Mattancherry here on Sunday over remarks he allegedly made in a YouTube video about a students’ protest in New Delhi over the NEET paper leak, police said.
Political commentator T G Mohandas was taken into custody from his Mattancherry residence on Sunday by Cyber Police investigating remarks allegedly made in a YouTube video about a Delhi students’ protest, which police claim aimed to disturb public peace.
The BJP termed the action “discriminatory” and accused the Kerala government of using it to divert attention from alleged lapses in flood relief operations and protests in coastal areas.
A team from the Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police Station, which is probing the case, reached Mohandas’ residence at Koovappadam near Mattancherry on Sunday evening, accompanied by officials from the local police station. Police said Mohandas was present when the investigation team arrived.
The police team collected information about his YouTube account and digital devices allegedly used to create and upload the video, officials said. Police sources said Mohandas would be questioned in detail as part of the investigation.
At around 7.45 pm, Mohandas was brought out of his residence and taken to a hospital for a medical examination. As he came out of the house, his supporters raised slogans in his support. After undergoing a medical examination at a government hospital, Mohandas was taken to Thiruvananthapuram.
The case was registered following a complaint alleging that videos uploaded on Mohandas’ YouTube channel, ‘Pathrika’, were intended to disturb public peace and create fear and unrest among the public. In the video, Mohandas allegedly said the Delhi students’ protest “could lead to incidents of gang rape” and claimed that there would be no complaints because “those attending the protest like rape and there are girls who enjoy being raped”.
He allegedly said that, if he were in charge, he would impose a curfew and order the protesters to disperse and, if they refused, “open fire”. He claimed that although some people would be killed or permanently injured, the situation would be brought under control within hours and the bodies shifted to hospitals. Police alleged that the videos were uploaded and circulated on July 24 and 25 with the intention of disturbing public tranquillity and creating unrest by spreading fear among those who participated in the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The LDF had initially raised questions over the delay in registering a case against Mohandas. After the case was registered last month, questions were raised over the delay in taking him into custody. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala had maintained that the police would decide whether to arrest Mohandas after conducting the probe. Earlier in the day, when reporters asked AICC general secretary K C Venugopal about the delay, he said the registration of an FIR should be followed by an investigation and appropriate action.
“Filing an FIR means an investigation has to take place. These RSS people think that they rule this entire country and the whole world, and that they can say anything,” he said. Venugopal said he believed the Kerala Police was capable of taking action against those responsible. “I firmly believe that the Kerala Police is capable of controlling such people now,” he said. BJP state general secretary S Suresh, in a statement, said it was “highly condemnable” that police took Mohandas into custody on a holiday.
He alleged that the detention was aimed at diverting attention from the government’s alleged failures in flood relief operations and protests by people in coastal areas. “The remarks made by Mohandas are not welcome, but several people who have allegedly threatened to shoot Prime Minister Narendra Modi are moving freely without facing legal action under the protection of the UDF government in Kerala,” Suresh alleged. He claimed that despite several complaints being lodged with the police against such persons, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala was protecting those who had allegedly threatened the PM.
