Kothamangalam court thwarts police attempt to arrest Shiyas after bail

Kochi: Just moments after a local court granted bail to Ernakulam’s District Congress Committee president Mohammed Shiyas, the police attempted to re-arrest him on Wednesday. Following this, the court asked the police to refrain from detaining the leader till March 16 by issuing an interim bail.

Shiyas, along with Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnadan, were granted bail by the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kothamangalm in a case related to protests following the tragic demise of Indira, 72, who was killed by a wild elephant in Idukki.

The police moved to detain Shiyas on separate charges of vandalising the police vehicle after he was granted bail. While Shiyas quickly ran into court to evade arrest, many activists tried to prevent the police from chasing him. The court summoned the investigating officer amid the brewing conflict and later ordered the probe team to refrain from arresting Shiyas till the 16th of this month. 

Besides Shiyas and Kuzhalnadan, the court granted bail to 14 others in the case. The court had granted bail to the two leaders during the hearing on Wednesday. 

The police have registered a case against 30 people for protesting with the victim's body. The case was registered under non-bailable sections with charges including assault in a hospital and disrespect to a dead body. Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose, Muvattupuzha MLA Mathew Kuzhalnathan and Shibu Thekumpurum were also implicated in connection with the road blockade. Mathew Kuzhalnadan is the first accused in the case.

While speaking to reporters at the protest venue in Kothamangalam, Kuzhalnadan said non-bailable provisions of IPC, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Kerala Health Workers' Act were invoked against them. He claimed that it was the police who provoked the protestors three times.

The protest on Monday was led by Kuzhalnadan and Idukki MP Dean Kuriakose with hundreds of locals joining in. They refused to hand over the body of the elephant-attack victim, for post-mortem. 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. Seventy-year-old woman, Indira Ramakrishnan died after being attacked by a wild elephant in the Kanjiraveli area in Idukki on Monday.