Thiruvananthapuram: After eight days in jail, Youth Congress state president Rahul Mamkoottathil walked out of prison on bail on Wednesday.
He was granted bail on all four cases, including the main case related to the violence during the secretariat march. A huge gathering of Congress activists gave a rousing reception to the state president of Youth Congress.
"We will not back off from the protests against this fascist government, no matter how many days you incarcerate us," Mamkoottathil said while addressing Youth Congress activists outside the jail.
B V Srinivas, national president of Youth Congress Srinivas and MLAs Shafi Parambil, Anwar Sadath and P C Vishnunath were among those who were present to receive Mamkoottathil.
The case related to the DGP office march was heard by the Chief Judicial Magistrate court and the case related to the secretariat march was heard by the district sessions court here.
Mamkoottathil, the newly elected state president of the Youth Congress, was apprehended from his residence in the early hours of January 9 (Tuesday). He was booked for allegedly leading violent attacks during a secretariat march in the last month.
In the secretariat march case, the court set a bond of Rs 50,000 or an equivalent surety to secure the bail. As per the conditions imposed by the court, Mamkoottathil has to appear before the investigating officer every Monday for six weeks. In the DGP office march case, the bail bond was set at Rs 25,000 or an equivalent surety, He is asked to appear before the investigating officer every Tuesday for one month.
The court had earlier granted conditional bail in two cases registered by the Cantonment Police after the march to the secretariat turned violent.
The case against Mamkoottathil
For the Secretariat protest, the Kerala police have charged Mamkoottathil for assaulting cops, causing grievous physical injury to them, using deadly weapons to cause serious harm, and inflicting bone fractures. These offences carry a punishment of more than 10 years in prison.
Though the Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan was the first accused in the case, he has not yet been arrested. Earlier, 31 Youth Congress workers were arrested in connection with it. “The police have deliberately charged Rahul with non-bailable offences,” said his lawyer Mridul John Mathew.
(With PTI inputs)