Kerala: CPI-M leader detained in connection with ADM Kannur suicide case

Kannur, October 29 (IANS): Hours after a Kerala court on Tuesday rejected CPI-M leader PP Divya’s bail plea in the Kannur case of additional district judge Naveen Babu’s suicide, the police took her into custody.

The Thalassery court, in a single-line order, said Divya’s bail plea was “rejected”.

During the anticipatory bail hearing, Divya’s lawyer argued that while talking about Babu, she had no ill intentions and was just making a general statement against corruption.

However, the prosecutor’s office opposed her requests for bail.

Divya was the only accused in the case and soon she also resigned as the Kannur district panchayath president and went into hiding.

Ajith Kumar Kannur Commissioner of Police told the media that Divya has been detained.

Kannur is the citadel of the ruling CPI-M and the district where Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and State Secretary MV Govindan hail from.

The Congress and the BJP criticized the Prime Minister for not arresting her and the CPI-M instead supported the accused.

There was massive outrage in the state as Divya was in hiding for the last 12 days after she was accused in the Babu suicide case.

The official said Divya is being interrogated at the crime branch office in Kannur and is likely to be questioned at the judge’s residence on the same day.

Divya has always been touted as a young leader who has a lot of potential to climb the ladder in both the party and politics.

Babu was found hanging on October 15 in her house and on October 17, a case was registered against Divya for her remarks and she has been in hiding since then.

She allegedly made remarks about corruption, attacking Babu during a speech on October 14, which allegedly drove him to commit suicide the next day.

Reacting to Tuesday’s court ruling, Babu’s brother, a lawyer by profession, expressed satisfaction that Divya was denied pre-arrest bail.

“Now, if she approaches the Supreme Court, we will file an affidavit against her. We are fighting a legal battle, not a political one. The police could have arrested her, but they didn’t arrest her. We only want a fair trial in this case,” Brother Babu said.

Babu’s wife, reacting to Divya’s refusal to grant pre-arrest bail, stated that the police must arrest her.

“The inquest and postmortem of my husband were conducted before our family members reached Kannur. I am also an official in the same department, so I know how he worked,” Babu’s wife said.

Opposition leader VD Satheesan said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s office was shielding the accused.

“Everyone knows that the accused was protected by Vijayan’s office. It is unfortunate that law and order has collapsed in the country. The government and CPI-M are protecting the accused,” Satheesan said.