The CPI(M) unit in the district which had been caught on the backfoot after the fresh spurt in violence involving their activist just after the peace talks was further disadvantaged when a selfie by an arrested activist at the police station wearing a cap of a sub-inspector went viral in social media.
BJP district chief N. Hari, who posted the images in a WhatsApp groups, was quick to point out the soft-handling of the accused by the police and said it was the evidence of the nexus between the CPI(M) and the police.
Utter confusion
The incident also put the police in the district in a state of utter confusion as it came just hours after a campaign on the effective handling of law and order in the State by the government. As expected, the accused, Midhun, alias Ambili, was removed from the primary membership of the party. He was member of a branch near Kumarakom.
Meanwhile, the District Police Chief. who ordered an inquiry into the matter, suspended assistant sub-inspector Anil Kumar and two civil police officers Vinod and Jayachandran of the Kottayam (East) police station.
Apparently, Midhun was wearing the cap of the sub-inspector and took a selfie and posted it in a WhatsApp group of his friends.
Other groups
It was from that group that the image spread to other groups and into the BJP hands. Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against Midhun under Section 171 of the IPC (wearing the garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intend).
Midhun, who has nearly half a dozen chargesheets against him, was involved in an altercation with two BJP office-bearers on Sunday evening, allegedly over a matter pertaining to the ongoing trial runs of snakeboats at Mutherimada.
The two were admitted to a general hospital and the BJP went on a siege of the Kottayam (West) police station late night under the leadership of general secretary Shobha Surendran. They also held a public meeting on Monday evening.
The CPI(M) had washed their hands of the issue terming it a personal one.
Following this, the police had taken Midhun into custody on Sunday evening itself only to set him free on bail on Monday evening. The controversial selfie appeared after this.