The Kerala police have registered a case against Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi under the Motor Vehicles Act in connection with the Thrissur Pooram fiasco probe. The actor-politician had recently dared the Kerala government to let CBI probe the Thrissur Pooram fiasco case for the truth to come out.
The Kerala police on Sunday registered a case under various sections of the MV Act after Gopi recently admitted he did use an ambulance for a short distance to reach the Pooram venue. The Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Thrissur is facing charges of reckless driving, violating traffic restrictions imposed by the police, breaching one-way limits on Swaraj ground, and using a vehicle designated for patient transport. The charges were slapped under IPC 279, 34 and Motor Vehicle Act 179, 184, 188, 192, OnManorama reported. Besides the union minister, police have also named Abhijit Nair, a coordinator at Varahi PR agency, and the ambulance driver as the second and third accused in the case respectively.
While Gopi initially denied using an ambulance to reach the Pooram venue, despite visuals emerging showing him reaching there in an emergency vehicle, he later admitted using the vehicle owing to a few health issues. Gopi said he used the ambulance for only the last 100 metres. Gopi said he reached close to the festival site in his car, which was then attacked by some 'goondas' of the rival political parties. The Union MoS claimed that he was rescued from there by some youngsters who put him in an ambulance which was there at the festival site to cater to those in distress.
The union minister dared the Kerala government to let CBI probe the Thrissur Pooram fiasco and charged the controversy is being created to hide financial frauds like the Karuvannur Cooperative Bank scam. “ Let the CBI come and investigate. Do they have the courage to bring the CBI. Their entire politics will go up in flames if it happens. You want the truth to come out, bring the CBI," Gopi had said recently.
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The Kerala government has announced at least three probes into the Thrissur Pooram fiasco, including one led by the state police chief, to probe the alleged conspiracy behind attempts to disrupt the annual festival. It is alleged there were deliberate attempts to disrupt the festival to favour the BJP during the Lok Sabha polls.
There were police interventions in the Thrissur Pooram rituals and the subsequent controversies took the sheen off the annual spectacle held in April this year. For the first time in the history of the festival, the display of fireworks, one of the major attractions of the event, which was scheduled in the early hours, was held in broad daylight the next day, which turned out to be a disappointment for the festival buffs.
