Three days after UDF candidate Ramesh Pisharody was blocked in Vadakkanthara during an election campaign, the Palghat Town North Police on Thursday registered a case against three individuals, including a Palakkad Municipality councillor.

The accused have been identified as BJP municipal councillor Sindhu Rajan, her daughter, Sneha, and her brother, Vijayakumar.

They have been booked under sections 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), 171(2)(a) (undue influence at elections), 174 (non-cognisable offenses), 3(5) (common Intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and section 123(A)(1) (corrupt practices) of the Representation of People Act 1950.

“The complaint was filed by the party, and it will take its course,” Pisharody told Onmanorama.

The incident occurred on Tuesday night when Pisharody, campaigning in Vadakkanthara — a BJP stronghold in Palakkad town — was stopped by a group of women led by Sindhu near a temple. According to Pisharody, he had reached the area to interact with voters as part of his campaign.

According to the FIR, the trio blocked Pisharody during the campaign, stating that they would not allow Congress members who harass women to seek votes in even a single house in Manakkal Thodi, a region within Vadakkanthara.

However, Pisharody maintained his composure even as the incident unfurled, urging his supporters and party workers not to escalate the issue.

While the BJP initially defended the incident as a protest against Pisharody's remarks on a sexual harassment case involving filmmaker Ranjith, it has done little to control the damage. The incident is widely perceived as resembling exclusionary practices often criticised in so-called “party villages”, raising questions about democratic freedoms in election campaigning.

Pisharody earlier explained the episode to the media, saying that he had been invited by a local woman to visit her house, but had initially declined due to concerns that it could lead to complaints from others whose homes he could not visit. He added that he was then compelled to visit a temple at Kuruppanthara, during which he was blocked.