Kerala: BJP leader held in ashram arson case

Representational Pic. iStock

A BJP ward councillor has been arrested by the Crime Branch wing of Kerala police in connection with the attack on an ashram owned by spiritual leader Sandeepananda Giri five years ago.

The Salagramam ashram of Giri, located at nearby Kundamankadavu, was attacked and two cars and a scooter parked in front of the building were burnt in the small hours of October 27, 2018 by some unidentified miscreants.

Police sources said V G Girikumar, the PTP Nagar ward councillor of the BJP, was allegedly involved in the conspiracy and the attack.

Girikumar is also the district general secretary of the saffron party.

"He has been arrested by the Crime branch," a senior police official told PTI. However, the official did not divulge not much details.

Meanwhile, BJP workers marched as a group to the Secretariat to protest against the arrest of the party leader.

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The five-year-old case has come to the limelight again recently after the revelation of a man that a late RSS worker and some of his friends had been responsible for the arson.

Prashanth, a native of nearby Kundamankadavu, had given a statement to the Crime Branch wing that his late younger brother Prakash was among the attackers.
Prakash died by suicide on January 3.

Sandeepananda Giri is considered to be close to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The incident triggered a widespread political controversy as it happened just days after Giri had hailed the Supreme Court verdict on entry of women of all ages into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala.

CM Vijayan was among those who condemned the attack on the ashram five years ago.

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