KOCHI: The police on Friday arrested another person in connection with the circulation of a fake video on Thrikkakara LDF candidate Dr Jo Joseph on social media. The police said the arrested person, T K Shukoor, 49, of Pattambi, is a Congress worker. Involvement of three more persons has been found, an officer said.
Shukoor, the mandalam secretary of Amayur, was arrested by a Kochi police team from his home at Koppam near Pattambi. Kochi City Police Commissioner C H Nagaraju told reporters the details of three other persons were being verified and they will be nabbed soon. Earlier, a Palakkad resident was arrested for the circulation of the sleazy video. The accused, Sivadasan, 41, of Kozhinjampara, is a former office-bearer of the local unit of the Youth Congress and an employee of KTDC.
The Kochi City police launched a probe after the LDF candidate and his wife, Dr Daya Pascal, complained against the ‘fake video’. The issue set off a hot political debate ahead of the bypoll with the CPM alleging the involvement of Congress supporters in the incident. However, UDF candidate Uma Thomas came out against the ‘fake video’ saying she never supports any sort of personal attacks for political gains.
Following the arrest of the two Congress workers, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan alleged the LDF had plotted the whole incident. “The police are playing to the LDF’s tune. If they have nabbed those who circulated the video, then they should first nab the people who made it. We all know which party is running a cyber media team to target political opponents. For years, the CPM’s cyber team has been targeting me and other UDF leaders. We too have families. These types of campaigns against the Congress won’t work as people are aware of the truth,” he said.