Kerala MLA gets bail in forest office vandalism case
Kerala MLA gets bail in forest office vandalism case
The Statesman
January 6, 2025
PV Anvar, independent MLA from Nilambur, who was arrested and remanded in
judicial custody for allegedly vandalising the District Forest Office
(DFO), was granted bail by the Nilambur Judicial First Class Magistrate
Court on Monday.
While considering the bail plea of Anvar, the court rejected the
prosecution’s request for custody to question him for further investigation
in the case and granted him bail with conditions . The conditions are that
PV Anvar has to deposit Rs 50000 as bail amount and Rs 35000 for
destruction of public property and he has to appear before the
investigating officer every Wednesday etc.
Anvar is currently lodged in Thavanur Central Jail and he will be released
after executing the bail order.
Anvar was arrested on Sunday night after allegedly leading a protest that
resulted in vandalism at the forest office in response to a tribal man’s
death in Nilambur caused by an elephant attack.
Anvar shared a note on Facebook after getting bail ‘Dear ones, bail has
been granted .Greetings to those who stood by me. See you in person’ Anvar
wrote on Facebook.
PV Anvar, who recently left the CPI-M)-led ruling Left Democratic
Front(LDF), now leads a collective called the Democratic Movement of Kerala
(DMK).On Sunday morning, DMK workers, led by Anvar staged a protest outside
the District Forest Office(DFO) in Nilambur, following the death of a
tribal man, Mani, in an Elephant attack. During the protest, around 10 DMK
workers trespassed into the District forest office and vandalised the
office room.
They allegedly smashed the windows and doors of the Nilambur Forest
Office.Anvar and several workers of DMK were booked under various sections
of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Prevention of Damage to Public
Property Act.
In an unprecedented move, the police swiftly arrested Anvar at his
residence at Othayi in Nilambur amid heavy public, media and police
presence. Anvar was remanded for 14 days, and the police took him to the
Central Jail in Thavanur, located 70 kilometers away.
KPCC President K Sudhakaran MP has strongly criticized the arrest of
Congress MLA PV Anvar, alleging a “high-level political conspiracy” behind
the incident. He accused the police of displaying undue eagerness in
arresting Anvar while turning a blind eye to similar incidents involving
leaders from the ruling party.
Opposition leader VD Satheesan said that the arrest of PV. Anwar at his
house was a revenge politics by the CPI-M. The government is sending a
message through Anwar’s arrest that anyone who opposes Pinarayi Vijayan and
his gang of conspirators will face this fate.Former Opposition Leader
Ramesh Chennithala also condemned the arrest, labeling it as an act of
“state terrorism.”