Nava Kerala Sadas assault case: Verdict on anticipatory bail for accused today

Alappuzha District and Sessions Court will pronounce the verdict on the anticipatory bail plea filed by five accused cops in the Nava Kerala Sadassu assault case on Tuesday.

District Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese heard the arguments on Saturday. The case pertains to the alleged assault on KSU and Youth Congress activists who staged a protest during the Nava Kerala Sadas outreach programme in Alappuzha on December 15, 2023.

Anilkumar, the former gunman of then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, and members of his escort team, S Sandeep, Shaiju V K, Arun R, and Vipin V V are the accused in the case.

In their pre-arrest bail plea, Anilkumar and Sandeep argued that the protesters had approached dangerously close to the convoy, which was moving under Z-plus security cover, and that their actions were necessary to prevent a perceived threat to the CM, accompanying ministers, and security personnel.

Officers also said they feared arrest due to political rivalry involving the ruling front, describing the prosecution’s case as fabricated. They also emphasised that neither of them had any prior criminal record.

The accused approached the Sessions Court after additional charges, including culpable homicide under Section 308 of the Indian Penal Code, were added to the case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case.

They had initially filed a pre-arrest bail plea before a Magistrate Court but withdrew their applications and moved the Sessions Court after non-bailable charges were included.

The SIT, in an additional statement of facts, submitted to the court, has said that the incorporation of Section 308 IPC was neither sudden nor mechanical.

"From the commencement of the further investigation, the SIT had been actively examining the applicability of additional penal provisions based on the evidence being collected. The matter was subjected to detailed deliberations within the SIT, discussions with forensic medicine professionals, and careful evaluation of the oral, documentary, electronic, medical, and scientific evidence collected during investigation. The decision to incorporate Section 308 IPC was based on the assessment of the evidence collected during the investigation and was not taken suddenly or mechanically, nor was it based on the written opinion of the Medical Board," the report stated.