KOCHI: Four more persons, V4Kerala activists, were arrested early on Thursday for illegally throwing open the ready-for-inauguration Vyttila flyover for traffic on Tuesday night. Shakeer Ali, Sajan Aziz, Antony Abin and Isaac Chacko were the arrested, said police. However, Chacko was arrested under the Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance and he was released on bail from the police station while the rest were booked under non-bailable charges.
Abin and Chacko had contested as candidates of V4Kerala, the recently launched apolitical outfit, in the recent local body polls. The City police arrested eight persons, including the founder of V4Kerala, Nipun Cherian, for the unauthorised opening of the flyover set to be inaugurated on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Maradu Judicial First Class Magistrate Court rejected the bail plea of Nipun, who is in judicial custody, and released the three persons arrested along with him on Thursday. Anchalose John, Rafel Varghese, and Sooraj Dennis Augustine were granted bail.
Around 7pm on Tuesday, the V4 Kochi activists removed the barricade at the entry point of the Vyttila flyover, leading to heavy traffic congestion on the busy stretch. However, V4Kerala dismissed the allegation that they had removed the barricade to open the flyover. Police said, more persons associated with the incident will be arrested.
The Maradu police registered a case under Sections of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 336 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 447 (criminal trespass), 143 (unlawful assembly) 147 (rioting), and 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of the offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the IPC.
Heart of the matter
With barely hours left for the formal inauguration of the newly-built Vyttila and Kundannoor flyovers by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the main talking point now is whether the opening of the flyovers should have been delayed for over a week after the load test was conducted. The question assumes significance in the wake of the ‘informal inauguration’ of Vyttila flyover by some youths.