Kannur: Kerala Police on Monday arrested two popular vloggers for allegedly obstructing officials at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in Kannur.
Libin and Ebin, hailing from Angadikkadavu in the district, allegedly created ruckus in the RTO office after the officials imposed a fine on them for alleged alteration of their vehicle violating the rules.
The vlogger brothers, who are popular on social media by their handle 'E BULL JET', has a vehicle named 'Napoleon' which has a huge fan following.
Citing the violation of rules, the vehicle was recently confiscated by the RTO.
High drama
The RTO office and the town police station in Kannur witnessed high drama throughout the day. The police accused the brothers of creating ruckus at the Regional Transport Office (RTO) office. The police termed as drama the emotional outbursts of the duo which were shown live to the public.
However, the belligerent fans of 'E Bull Jet' vloggers, who thronged before the RTO office and the police station, vented their anger at the police by alleging that false cases were foisted on their heroes.
The popular duo, who commands a fan following of around 1.5 million people, reached the RTO office on Monday morning after their vehicle 'Napoleon' was confiscated by the officials. The RTO had earlier fined them Rs 42,000 as penalty after finding that illegal alterations were done on the vehicle.
This is the second time that the vehicle was seized by the RTO office for law-breaking.
On the basis of a complaint lodged by an RTO office employee, the police reached the spot and took them into custody.
After completing all formalities, they were produced before a court which sent them to judicial remand.
While being taken to the court, the duo alleged police treated them like murder accused.
The police have also arrested 17 followers of the duo for illegally assembling at the RTO office and breaking COVID protocols in the state.
Nine violations
According to the RTO office, there were nine major violations for which action has been taken.
If the vehicle had been allowed to continue in service, it could have caused accidents, they said.
First of all, tax was not paid for the vehicle, the ownership which is in Ebin's name. Though the colour of the vehicle was mentioned as white in the Registration Certificate, it was changed to black without the approval of the department.
Violating the rules, stickers were put on glasses and throughout the vehicle. Moreover, a cycle was fitted on the back of the vehicle. Another major violation was the use of high ampere lights.
Emotional Breakdown
The duo were seen crying when they were taken to hospital for medical check-up. They were later remanded in judicial custody by the Kannur First Class Judicial Magistrate Court. 'Napoleon' was shifted to the AR Camp compound from the RTO office premises.
Earlier, they did live video coverage inside the RTO office when they had an altercation with the RTO officials. The RTO office alleged that a computer monitor crashed while they were shooting the video. By that time, many fans came to the spot in support of the two brothers. This made the RTO staff call the police. The police took them forcefully to the police station as they were unrelenting.
