BJP calls arrest of Kerala right-wing ideologue Mohandas discriminatory

In Keralam, Right-wing political commentator T G Mohandas was taken into custody from his residence in Mattancherry in Kochi on Sunday over remarks he allegedly made in a YouTube video about a students' protest in New Delhi over the NEET paper leak, police said. The BJP termed the action “discriminatory” and accused the Keralam government of using it to divert attention from alleged lapses in flood relief operations and protests in coastal areas.
A team from the Thiruvananthapuram Cyber Police Station, which is probing the case, reached Mohandas' residence at Koovappadam near Mattancherry on Sunday evening, accompanied by officials from the local police station.Police said Mohandas was present when the investigation team arrived.
The police team collected information about his YouTube account and digital devices allegedly used to create and upload the video, officials said. Police sources said Mohandas would be questioned in detail as part of the investigation. Mohandas was brought out of his residence and taken to a hospital for a medical examination. After undergoing a medical examination at a government hospital, Mohandas was taken to Thiruvananthapuram. The case was registered following a complaint alleging that videos uploaded on Mohandas’ YouTube channel, ‘Pathrika’, were intended to disturb public peace and create fear and unrest among the public.
Police alleged that the videos were uploaded and circulated on July 24 and 25 with the intention of disturbing public tranquillity and creating unrest by spreading fear among those who participated in the protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. The LDF had initially raised questions over the delay in registering a case against Mohandas. After the case was registered last month, questions were raised over the delay in taking him into custody.
BJP state general secretary S Suresh, in a statement, said it was “highly condemnable” that police took Mohandas into custody on a holiday. He alleged that the detention was aimed at diverting attention from the government’s alleged failures in flood relief operations and protests by people in coastal areas.“The remarks made by Mohandas are not welcome, but several people who have allegedly threatened to shoot Prime Minister Narendra Modi are moving freely without facing legal action under the protection of the UDF government in Kerala,” Suresh alleged.
He claimed that despite several complaints being lodged with the police against such persons, Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala was protecting those who had allegedly threatened the PM.