Kerala BJP condemns midnight arrest of journalist Shajan Skaria

Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 (IANS) Kerala BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Tuesday condemned the midnight arrest of journalist Shajan Skaria by the state police, saying it is a blatant violation of accepted democratic norms.

Former Union Minister Chandrasekhar said: "Skaria was arrested when he was having dinner at his home, here on Monday night. He was not even allowed to wear a shirt. This shows the intolerance of the CPI-M-led Left government."

Notably, the journalist has been bringing out all the allegations against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his government.

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Skaria has come under the police radar, which, according to him, is acting at the behest of CM Vijayan's office.

On Monday night, when Skaria was having dinner with his aged parents, the police, acting on a complaint from a woman regarding alleged defamation, barged into his house and arrested him.

Skaria's arrest was recorded. From the police camp, he was taken for a medical checkup.

Skaria was produced at the residence of a local magistrate.

During the hearing, Skaria's counsel pointed out that his custody and arrest were against the accepted norms and his custodial interrogation was not needed, as he had always abided by the law of the land.

The magistrate later granted bail to the journalist.

Skaria said he was targeted as he has always "exposed" CM Vijayan's wrongdoings, especially the recent case against his daughter.

Chandrasekhar slammed the INDIA bloc state governments for behaving in the "most undemocratic" ways, even while they speak of freedom of the press.

"The BJP will always fight this undemocratic and autocratic style of functioning, and it's not just Skaria, the BJP will fight injustice against all Keralaites," added Chandrasekhar.

Over the years, Skaria, through his online and YouTube news channel, has grabbed eyeballs.

--IANS

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