Kannur: The CPM's Velam Centre Branch Committee in Kannur's Mayyil grama panchayat has re-elected Maneesh K K as its secretary. He was the first to share the communal 'kafir screenshot' on Facebook.

Maneesh, an admin of 'Ambadimukk Sakhakkal Kannur', a pro-CPM Facebook page posted the screenshot on its page on April 25, the eve of the Lok Sabha election. The screenshot, purportedly fake, called the CPM candidate in Vadakara Lok Sabha constituency, K K Shailaja, an infidel and sought votes for Congress candidate Shafi Parambil in the name of his religion.

It was an attempt to paint the Congress campaign as communal. But police have not found any evidence of the screenshot being created by the UDF camp, particularly MSF leader Muhammed Khasim PK, in whose name it was circulated.

But the investigation has led police to Maneesh and then to Ribesh RS, the DYFI Vadakara Block Committee president. When Vadakara police questioned Maneesh, he said he deleted the communal post within one hour after realising it was fake. He later deleted the Facebook page, too. Police recorded the two as witnesses in the case rather than an accused.

Maneesh is considered close to CPM's state committee member and strongman P Jayarajan, who is writing a book on the influence of political Islam in Kerala. When Jayarajan was the CPM's Kannur District Secretary, Maneesh was managing his Facebook page.

Jayarajan's views on the influence of political Islam in Kerala were widely panned by UDF leaders, accusing him of pandering to right-wing majority fundamentalism. They said the kafir screenshot was also created to divide society on communal lines, but it backfired.