DYFI leader entangled in 'kafir screenshot' case sends defamation notice to former MLA

Kozhikode: DYFI Vadakara block committee president Ribesh RS, whose phone was impounded by the police for forensic examination in the 'kafir' screenshot case, has sent a legal notice to IUML state secretary and Kuttiadi former MLA Parakkal Abdulla seeking public apology for dragging his name into the case.

Ribesh, through his counsel Adv KM Ramdas, said in the legal notice that he had no involvement in the case. "But you as the state secretary of the IUML posted a message on social media with the headline 'Kafir case: fake screenshot created and spread by Left WhatsApp groups'. The message said Ribesh posted the screenshot in a WhatsApp group called Red Encounters at 2.13 pm on April 25, 2024," the notice said.

"Those who read the message get an impression that my client -- who has no connection to the matter -- is a person who spreads communal animosity in society," it read.

To be sure, the Vadakara Station House Officer, investigating the case, had submitted a status report to the High Court of Kerala that Ribesh admitted to posting the communal screenshot in the WhatsApp group but could not recall from where he got it. The police took his phone for a forensic test to find out whether he created the screenshot and if he did not, from where he downloaded it. 

Ribesh is a teacher at Mappila Lower Primary School, Arangot, and a resident of Panikkotti ward in Vadakara municipality. He is also a member of the CPM's Puthuppanam South Local Committee and DYFI's District Committee.

In the notice sent on August 16, Ribesh said Abdulla's campaign was a deliberate attempt to mislead the investigating agencies and the public, to defame him and to assassinate his character. "This was also aimed to cast suspicion on the organisations he represents," the notice said. "People see me with an eye of suspicion at marriages, funerals and other public events, only because people like you have put out that message," Ribesh said in the notice that asked the former MLA to publicly apologise and get the apology published prominently or else he will initiate criminal and civil proceedings against Abdulla.

In the dock after the police report, the DYFI is organising an explanatory meeting in Vadakara town on Sunday evening.

'Legal notice sent to me by mistake'
When contacted, Parakkal Abdulla said Ribesh sent the legal notice to him by mistake because he had only quoted the police report submitted to the Kerala High Court. "If he had a problem with the police report, he should send legal notice to the Home Minister (Pinarayi Vijayan)," Abdulla told Onmanorama. "I'm just ignoring the notice. It was sent by the same lawyer who represented four accused in the TP murder case," he said and added: "I have quoted the police report not only in my social media posts but also in my public speeches," he said.

On April 25, on the eve of the election, the communal screenshot was widely spread by pro-CPM WhatsApp groups and Facebook pages, accusing the UDF of being communal. The message was spread in the name of MSF leader Muhammed Khasim PK.

"I took Khasim to the Rural Police Chief and asked them to find the truth behind the screenshot and if Khasim is guilty, take action against him. Police checked his phone and found no evidence of him creating the communal message but did not register an FIR on his complaint," said Abdulla.

Yet, they registered an FIR against him under the stringent Section 153 A of the IPC based on a complaint filed by a CPM leader late in the night,” he said. "Now the truth is coming out because the high court has caught the police by the ear," Abdulla said.