Case against Sabarinathan for vandalising govt office

Thiruvananthapuram: Police have booked MLA K S Sabarinathan on vandalism charges after a group of Congressmen created a ruckus in the office of Integrated Tribal Development Project (ITDP) at Nedumangad on Friday afternoon. Police also arrested five men on Saturday and they were released on bail.
According to police, the incidents related to the case took place when Sabarinathan visited the ITDP office to collect data of tribal students who lack facilities to attend the online classes of the government so that the Congress party at Nedumangad could provide them help. They reached around 2.30pm. But, ITDP officer A Rahim, who was in charge of the office, was not present there as a result of which the MLA had to wait for nearly an hour.
Once the officer returned, the MLA and others got agitated and gheraoed him by locking the office door. The officer told them that he was away to attend a programme by the district panchayat to distribute televisions to school children of underprivileged families. They also resorted to vandalism, damaging a phone and desktop computer.
Police registered a case based on the complaint filed by ITDP officer Rahim.
Nedumangad police station-house officer inspector V Rajesh Kumar said the case was registered invoking section 353 of IPC for attacking a government servant and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act for damaging articles inside the government office.
On Saturday, police arrested five men —Nedumangad municipality opposition leader Arjunan, ward councillor K J Binu, party workers Mahesh Chandran, Hashim and Siddique. They were produced before Nedumangad Judicial First Class Magistrate court in the afternoon as the charges invoked were non-bailable. The magistrate, however, granted them bail.
“We have not yet taken any action against the MLA as it needed more detailed probe to find out whether he had personally engaged in vandalism. His followers might have went out of control and got courage to resort to violence as they are accompanied by the MLA himself,’’ the inspector said.
The LDF activists on Saturday staged a protest at Nedumangad demanding strict action against the MLA.
This is the third case being registered against Sabarinathan in the recent past by Nedumangad police. During the first phase of the lockdown, police had booked him twice for taking part in a protest march and a public event violating lockdown rules.