MALAPPURAM: The Nilambur judicial first-class magistrate court has granted bail to Nilambur MLA P V Anvar in the case related to vandalism at the Nilambur North Divisional Forest Office. Anvar was granted bail less that 24 hours of being arrested by Nilambur police from his residence on Sunday night.
Bail was granted on the condition that Anvar pays Rs 35,000 towards the estimated damage to public property at the forest office and that he reports to the Nilambur police station on alternate Wednesdays.
After being released from Tavanur central jail on Monday night, Anvar announced his decision to join hands with the UDF in opposing the Pinarayi Vijayan government. “I am going to end my one-man fight against Pinarayi. I will join hands with the UDF and start a joint fight until this government is brought down. I thank all the UDF leaders who extended support to me,” Anvar said.
He also expressed dissatisfaction with his treatment in prison. “They didn’t treat me well. I don’t know if an MLA has special privileges in prison. After conducting a study, I will reveal more details,” Anvar added.
The granting of bail within 24 hours is seen as a setback for the state government and the police. Flaws in the first information report (FIR) played a key role in helping the defence. The defence counsel argued that police claims were insufficient to justify the MLA’s detention.
Defence lawyer Zafarullah P M said the case was fabricated to trap the MLA on the instructions from higher authorities. “The police initially treated the incident as a regular protest. However, it appears that instructions from higher ups forced them to frame the MLA,” he said.
“The incident occurred in the morning, and by the afternoon, police had detained four people. However, when the FIR was filed in the evening, the names of these four individuals were not mentioned, with only Anvar named. The others were mentioned as known people in the report,” he added.
Zafarullah said the prosecution’s claim of Anvar instigating his followers to vandalise the forest office did not hold up in court. “Ten individuals vandalised the forest office while 40 people, including the MLA, were protesting outside. If the MLA is accused of instigation, then the other 39 people should also have been booked. Yet, the FIR only names the MLA,” he said.
The state coordinator of Anvar’s Democratic Movement of Kerala (DMK), V S Manoj Kumar, said the government’s attempt to jail Anvar on baseless charges had failed. “The court rejected the prosecution’s request for custody and granted bail to the MLA. This will only increase public support for him,” Kumar said.