Kerala Crime Branch questioned Union Minister Suresh Gopi as part of Thrissur Pooram ‘disruption' probe
However, CB officials averred that the agency preferred to keep the time or where they questioned Mr. Gopi confidential for now, given the politically sensitive nature of the investigation.
The Thrissur Pooram controversy took on political overtones as it dominated the campaign narrative in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Mr. Gopi found himself at the centre of the dispute after he rode in an ambulance, allegedly flashing its overhead lights and sounding the siren, to the festival office, which the police and district authorities had declared off-limits for vehicles and civilians on the night of the iconic fireworks.
Seva Bharathi, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), owned the ambulance. Subsequently, the police and the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) booked Mr. Gopi and the operator on the charge of misusing an emergency response vehicle for casual transport.
Mobile phone videos of Mr. Gopi parleying with apparently distraught Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu Devaswoms went viral on conventional and social media in the run-up to the poll day on April 26, 2024.
The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Opposition quickly accused the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) of throwing the Thrissur Lok Sabha poll to Mr Gopi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from the constituency, by 'wilfully scuttling Thrissur Pooram to stoke Hindu majoritarian religious sentiment among voters.'
Mr. Gopi's opponent, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader V.S. Sunilkumar and Congress' standard-bearer in the constituency, K. Muraleedharan, accused the State police of allowing the BJP candidate to gain political mileage by emerging as a champion of Thrissur Pooram lovers, a significant electoral bloc in the constituency.
The alleged disarray in the conduct of the festival had caused considerable disquiet among the mammoth festival crowd and the general public, prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to order a three-tier investigation last year.
Subsequently, the CB formed a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate the cognisable offences detailed in the preliminary police enquiry report about the festival 'disruption'. The SIT will likely submit its report to the Additional Director General of Police, Crime Branch, H. Venkatesh.
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