In a move that speaks to the trouble the CPI(M) cadre is in, a local court has said no to bail for five accused in the matter of an alleged assault on Enforcement Directorate personnel. The numbers are up – 25 arrests so far – and with a push to file the chargesheet, the probe has picked up some speed.
What the court decided
It was a straightforward “no” from the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-III on Saturday. Magistrate Tania Mariam Jose put the kibosh on the bail pleas, deeming the incident too serious to let them off the hook. The five are now in remand.
The side of the house the court came down on was the prosecution’s: that the ED were on the job right through to when they made it back to the office. As for the PDPP Act and any damage done, the court felt the facts as they stand make for a solid case.
How the defence put its case
The lawyers for the accused had a different story. They put forward that the ED wasn’t on duty at the time of the run-in and that the car in question wasn’t an official one, which should put a dent in the public property angle. They also had their doubts about the attempted murder charge holding water once you get into the nitty-gritty of it.
Manu Kallampally, the senior assistant public prosecutor for the State, had other ideas. He argued that the return from a raid is still part of the job. Even if you have to hire a car, it’s for the investigation. An early release, he told the court, would only be in the way of a proper preliminary look at things.
Wider probe and arrests
There has been a lot of police activity since the tussle. On Thursday night alone, six more were taken in, among them Unnikrishnan, the former Attukal councillor. That brings the head count to 25.
Word from the police is there are more under a watchful eye and we can expect to see some of them in handcuffs. A case is on the books for some 300 or so. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has given the DGP the word to get the chargesheet in as soon as can be, to have the case in order before anyone tries to get out of it in a higher court.
What set it off
The ED was the target of some CPI(M) activists on the way back from a raid at Bakery Junction in the city. They were after money-laundering leads connected to Veena Vijayan’s old company, Exalogic Solutions.
The ED has told the court the firm was being paid by Cochin Minerals and Rutile Limited every month from 2017 to 2021 for nothing in return. The operation on May 27, 2026, was at the residence of Pinarayi and his daughter Veena.
Why the ruling matters and what comes next
You could call this the first real test in open court for how the case is being made. For the time being, the CPI(M) workers who were picked up are where they are while the investigators figure out who did what in the aftermath of the ED’s work.
Here is what to keep an eye on:
– When the chargesheet is filed
– If any charges are added or toned down
– More names coming to light
The prosecution is making it clear they will view the obstruction and the car as part of a central inquiry. The defence, for the moment, is trying to draw a line in the sand over what constitutes official duty and to put the attempted murder claim to the test.
In Kerala, this is a case with two sides to it. It is a measure of how the State handles violence in the wake of federal probes and where the line is on accountability in a politically sensitive search.
It also raises the temperature for party men on the ground. With the list of the arrested growing, every new name in the file is going to be a factor in how the courts weigh liberty against the needs of the case.
As all this plays out, the question is whether the police can make the pieces fit – the witnesses, the material, the surveillance – with the charges they have. Not giving bail is the court’s way of saying it wants a clean, unobstructed investigation before it has to think about setting anyone free again.
