Kerala Court to Rule on Cancellation of Bail in ‘Kafir Screenshot’ Case Today
The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Vadakara is expected to deliver its order on Friday on a petition by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) seeking cancellation of bail granted to Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader Jithin Bhaskar in the ‘kafir screenshot’ case.
The prosecution argued that Bhaskar violated bail conditions by posting messages on Facebook that allegedly challenged the investigating team and attempted to create public unrest. The SIT also accused him of interfering with the investigation.
Separately, the Kozhikode sessions court is expected to pronounce its order on Friday on an anticipatory bail plea filed by another DYFI leader, Ribesh Ramakrishnan, in the same case.
The case, which sparked political controversy during the Vadakara Lok Sabha election campaign, involves the circulation of a screenshot that portrayed Congress candidate Shafi Parambil as a devout Muslim and Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate K.K. Shailaja as a ‘kafir’ (non-believer), while falsely attributing the post to Muslim Youth League worker Mohammed Kasim.
According to the prosecution, Bhaskar, a former member of the DYFI Vadakara Block Committee and the CPI(M) Thuruthi local committee, allegedly sent the screenshot to around 200 recipients using WhatsApp’s broadcast feature and attempted to destroy related digital evidence. The prosecution submitted that the district forensic division had recovered evidence supporting the allegations.
The SIT earlier found that Ramakrishnan also circulated the screenshot through a WhatsApp group named ‘Vadakara Squad’. The probe revealed that the screenshot was subsequently forwarded to several other WhatsApp groups.
