Mannarkkad SC-ST Special Court Judge K.M. Retheesh Kumar on Wednesday granted conditional bail to Aji Krishnan, founder-secretary of the controversial non-governmental organisation Highrange Rural Development Society (HRDS).
Mr. Krishnan was arrested from Attappady on Monday night in connection with a complaint filed by tribesman Raman from Vattilakki hamlet in Sholayur panchayat over a year ago. He had been accused of encroaching into tribal land, burning tribal huts and abusing Mr. Raman by using his caste name. The police had not acted with regard to the complaint until Monday.
The court proscribed Mr. Krishnan from entering Attappady for two months except for signing in front of the police officer investigating the case. He cannot travel abroad without the permission of the court.
Mr. Krishnan said it was a fabricated case and that the State government was targeting him for giving shelter to Swapna Suresh, one of the key accused in the high-profile diplomatic channel gold smuggling case.
Swapna’s confidential confession before a magistrate in June linking Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, his family and some top politicians and bureaucrats with the gold smuggling case had stirred a hornet’s nest, triggering a wave of protests and police raids.
“It is nothing but government vendetta for giving a job to Swapna Suresh. The police have become mere tools in the hands of a vindictive government,” he said.
“The man who filed the complaint against me does not even know me. No such thing had happened as burning of 10 tribal huts over a year ago in Attappady,” he said.
Mr. Krishnan said the “fight against the fascist government” would continue. He said the government in Kerala was like a monarchy. Without directly naming the Chief Minister, Mr. Krishnan said that he was behaving like a monarch.
