Thiruvananthapuram: The Vanchiyoor police on Tuesday recorded the arrest of five lawyers, including the secretary of Trivandrum Bar Association (TBA), for the alleged attack on journalists at Vanchiyoor district court complex on Friday. They were released on station bail later. The arrested were identified as TBA secretary Anayara Shaji and advocates Rethin R, Rahul L. R, Subhash B. and Arun P. Nair.
They have been accused of bashing up Prabhat Nair of The New Indian Express who came to report the court proceedings. A separate case was registered against them for criminal intimidation and use of sexual gestures against women journalists Justeena Thomas of Manorama News and C.P. Ajeetha of Asianet News. The advocates walked into Vanchiyoor police station and surrendered by 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday.
They were released minutes later as they had only bailable offences registered against them. The police also registered a counter case against the journalists based on a complaint filed by Mr Anayara Shaji. He alleged that the journalists had verbally and physically abused the advocates. A vigilance judge was considering a petition against former minister E.P. Jayarajan when the attack happened. The attack was a continuation of an ongoing campaign by advocates to prevent journos from reporting.
