The Nadapuram Judicial First Class Magistrate Court on Tuesday remanded in judicial custody for 14 days the two accused including a suspected worker of the National Development Front (NDF) arrested on the charge of trying to foment religious animosity between two communities at Kuttiyadi region.
The Kuttiyadi police had on Monday arrested Zakariah Mayankutty, 32, reportedly an NDF worker and Mohasin Hameed, 22, on the basis of a complaint submitted by Shamsudheen Moosa of Cheekunnu. A computer and other materials were also seized from them.
Both the accused were charged with Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 295-A ( deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code.
Zakariah had painted the petrol tanks of two motorbikes with saffron colour parked in front of houses of Shamsudheen and Hafeez near C.P.Mukku on Sunday night. He then placed a poster with slogans signed in the name of Bajrang Dal.
A picture of Lord Krishna was also placed in front of another bike.
A lighted traditional lamp stolen from a temple at Cherumukkathu was kept before the vehicles.
Kuttiyadi Circle Inspector V.V. Benny said that Zakariah, a neighbour of Shamsudheen had secured the poster printed from the DTP centre owned by Mohasin at Vanimel. This was not the first time he had been indulging in such malicious activities. He had desecrated a car owned by a Muslim with Rashtriya Sweyamsevak Sangh slogans in January this year. However, then the police had no clues about the culprit, he said. The Circle Inspector said that Zakariah had booked an air ticket to fly to Dubai on Monday. He wanted to escape after the incident. Previously he had worked in the Gulf for five years, the Circle Inspector said. Culprits indulging in criminal activities in the rural areas in the district and escaping to Gulf had been common earlier. But now the police have stepped up surveillance in the region, the police said.
