KOZHIKODE: The court has acquitted human rights activist Grow Vasu (94). The verdict is that of Kundamangalam First Class Magistrate Court. The court found Grow Vasu not guilty and pointed that the prosecution could not prove the charges against the accused.

Grow Vasu was arrested on July 29 in the case of protesting in front of the mortuary of Kozhikode Medical College against the killing of Maoist leaders by the police. He did not cooperate with the court proceedings even though there were many proceedings related to the case. He was jailed as he was not ready to take bail or plead guilty.

He was arrested by the medical college police for disrupting traffic in front of the medical college mortuary while protesting the killing of Maoists in Nilambur in 2016. He was announced fugitive as he failed to appear even after summons was issued. The arrest was based on the warrant issued by the court.

Vasu's stand was that he will not pay the fine and would argue the case on his own. Vasu said taking a case against him was wrong. To prevent him from speaking to the crowd, the police covered his face with a cap and pushed him into the jeep and forcibly stopped him from shouting slogans. This led to many protests. Opposition leader V D Satheesan had written a letter to the chief minister asking him to withdraw the case filed against Vasu. Satheesan criticized the police for ill-treating Vasu at a time when heinous murderers, impersonators and the relatives of the CPM engaged in fraudulent activities were given royal treatment in police custody and jails.