Police probe against Vellapally Natesan intensified

According to police sources, the main point of the probe was to find out whether the speech of Vellapally at Aluva provoked any ordinary persons who were listening to it.

“Even if Vellappally could justify his speech as a criticism against the government, if his statement had caused any communal provocation among any of the listeners, he would be held liable under Indian Penal Code section 153-A that deals with acts that promote enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion and affects communal harmony,” police sources said.

The government is learnt to have directed the Aluva police team investigating the case to expedite the probe. The investigation team had already obtained video footage and audio clips of Vellapally’s speech flaying the government for awarding compensation to the person who died during the rescue bid in the Kozhikode drainage mishap. The vidoe clips would be subjected to forensic examination to confirm that those were not tampered with.

The investigation team had taken the statement of KPCC president V M Sudheeran recently. Sudheeran had stated that the speech of Vellapally Natesan sparked off communal sentiments.

Meanwhile, sources close to the government said that the High Court granting anticipatory bail to Vellapally Natesan could be a relief to the government from a political point of view. “Had the court denied anticipatory bail to Mr. Natesan, the government would have been under pressure to arrest him,” said the source.