A day after he was booked by the Edathala police for allegedly assaulting police personnel, veteran para powerlifter Joby Mathew on Wednesday claimed that he was being framed.
Mr. Mathew, a world arm-wrestling champion, was charged for allegedly assaulting Sarindas, an officer with the Kalamassery AR Camp, and forcibly taking his mobile phone following a road rage incident on Tuesday night along Malayappally-Kompara road at Edathala.
Mr. Mathew was on his way to attend a programme in which Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar was the chief guest, while Mr. Sarindas was reportedly taking the police vehicle to the AR Camp for repairs.
He was booked on various charges, including wrongful restraint, voluntarily causing hurt, extortion, and causing grievous hurt to a public servant to obstruct them from performing their official duties, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. According to the first information report, he waylaid the police vehicle to avenge overtaking his car and assaulted the officer.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mathew on Wednesday told the media that he snatched the officer’s mobile phone when he tried to shoot videos of his wife and child. He said he attended the Governor’s function and submitted the officer’s phone at the office of the District Police Chief (Kochi City) while returning after the event.
In October, Mr. Mathew had clinched the bronze medal at the para powerlifting world championships in Cairo, Egypt.
Published – November 27, 2025 01:21 am IST
