The Palarivattom police have booked 11 Congress and Youth Congress leaders in Ernakulam district, including MPs and MLAs, on charges of threatening, obstructing and assaulting the police, among other charges, during their siege of the police station that lasted several hours into midnight on Monday.
District Congress Committee president Muhammed Shiyas has been arraigned as the first accused. The other accused are Hibi Eden, MP; MLAs Uma Thomas, T.J. Vinod and Anwar Sadath; Corporation councillors Deepthy Mary Varghese, V.K. Minimol and Sakeer Thammanam; Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) general secretary Abdul Muthalib; Youth Congress State general secretary Abin Varkey; and Congress leader Thamby Subramayam. Besides, 75 other identifiable persons have been booked.
The case has been registered invoking Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), and 283 (danger or obstruction in public way or line of navigation) and the Kerala Police Act 117 (e) referring to interference in the functioning of the police (threatens, obstructs or assaults a police officer with the manifest intention of preventing such officer from discharging any of his duties).
