Fake ID card case: Youth Congress workers released on conditional bail

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The court has granted conditional bail to four Youth Congress workers who were arrested in the case of creating fake identity cards for the Youth Congress elections. Chief Judicial Magistrate Shibu Daniel granted bail to the accused Adoor native Feni Nainan at Ejamkulam Thozhuvakkad native Binil Binu, Arakkal West native Abhinand Vikram Karampala Panthal native Vikas Krishnan. They are the first 4 accused in the case.

The bail was granted pointing out a serious technical error in the remand report. The accused should appear before the investigating officer from 10 am to 5 am every day till November 27. During these days, if necessary, the police can collect evidence by taking the accused. They can also seize pieces of equipment. The accused must appear before the police every Tuesday and Saturday for the first month. In the next month, they must appear every Saturday. They should not leave the country until the investigation is completed.

The court severely criticized the police for the mistakes in the remand report. The court inquired as to why the current suspects were added to the case and what conclusions the investigating officer had drawn in order to link them to it. Neither Museum CI S Manjulal nor the government counsel were able to give a clear answer to the court's question regarding the circumstances under which the accused should be taken into judicial custody.

The police, who pointed out that the accused had created around 2,000 cards similar to the Election Commission's identity cards, added that the accused should be taken into custody as it was necessary to find these fake ID cards. The government counsel argued that these ID cards are likely to be widely used in the upcoming parliamentary elections and that what the accused have done is treasonous. However, the court rejected these arguments.