The Kerala High Court on Friday directed the State government to produce before it the intelligence report warning of a possible attack on Chief Minister Oommen Chandy during his visit to Kannur recently.
Justice Thomas P. Joseph issued the oral directive when bail petitions by three persons arraigned as accused in a case relating to the recent attack on the Chief Minister came up for hearing. The petitions were filed by M. Kunhiraman, Kannur district panchayat member; K. Muraleedharan, Taliparamba municipal vice chairman; and T. Raghavan, local CPI(M) leader. As many as 94 persons have been listed as accused in the case.
When the bail petitions came up for hearing, the court asked Director General of Prosecution (DGP) T. Asaf Ali whether the State had received any intelligence report on any possible threat to the security of Mr. Chandy. The court asked the DGP to get the details of the report when he submitted that there was indeed an intelligence report.
The court asked whether it could be said that all those who were present at the spot had pelted stones at the Chief Minister. The court pointed out that there was reportedly yet another stone-throwing incident in Kannur town the same day. The court asked the DGP whether the incident had any connection with the stone-throwing at the Chief Minister. The court wanted to know whether cases had been registered in connection with the stone-throwing incident.
When the DGP submitted that the gunman of the Chief Minister was sitting in the rear seat, the court asked why he sat there, instead of the front seat. The DGP showed the case diary and photographs regarding the incident to the court.
