Jolt for CPI-M veteran E.P. Jayarajan in IndiGo row as court order re-investigation

Thiruvananthapuram, June 16 (IANS) In a fresh setback for senior CPI-M leader E.P. Jayarajan, a Thiruvananthapuram court on Tuesday rejected the police report that had given him a clean chit in the controversial IndiGo flight assault case and ordered a re-investigation.

The Judicial First Class Magistrate court directed the police to conduct a fresh probe into the complaint alleging that Jayarajan assaulted Youth Congress activists who protested against then Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inside an aircraft in June 2022.

The court also ordered that a new report be submitted after examining the allegations against Jayarajan and Anilkumar, the then Chief Minister’s gunman.

The case dates back to June 14, 2022, when an IndiGo flight from Kannur to Thiruvananthapuram became the scene of a political confrontation.

Youth Congress activists had allegedly raised slogans against Vijayan during the journey.

Following the incident, Youth Congress leaders, including Farzeen Majeed, complained that they were attacked inside the aircraft by Jayarajan and others.

The Valiyathura police, which investigated the complaint, had earlier submitted a report stating that there was no sufficient basis to register a case against Jayarajan.

The court has now refused to accept that conclusion, stating that the matter requires further examination and cannot be closed at this stage.

The fresh order means the police will revisit the circumstances of the incident, record statements again, and examine the role of those named in the complaint.

The investigation will proceed alongside the existing case against the Youth Congress activists over the protest.

The controversy had earlier escalated after IndiGo’s internal inquiry committee imposed a three-week travel ban on Jayarajan and a two-week ban on the protesting activists.

Jayarajan, who was then the LDF Convenor, had strongly criticised the airline’s decision, questioning why he was penalised for intervening in what he described as a security issue.

He had declared that IndiGo was a “substandard company” and that he would avoid travelling with the airline.

However, after a prolonged boycott, Jayarajan flew on the airline to take part in the last rites of the then CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in Delhi.

The court’s latest order has now brought the politically sensitive case back into the spotlight, with possible legal and political implications for one of CPI-M’s senior-most leaders.

–IANS

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