Police probing Shine defamation case search Cong. worker’s house, seize phone

The police team probing a complaint of cyberattack raised by CPI(M) leader K.J. Shine on Monday searched the house of C.K. Gopalakrishnan, a Congress worker at Kedamangalam near North Paravur, who has been booked in the case. The police team seized a mobile phone allegedly belonging to Mr. Gopalakrishnan during the search, according to police sources.

The cyber police have also booked one Yaser from Edapal, who allegedly runs a Facebook page named ‘Kondotty Abu’, as the third accused in the case. Political commentator K.M. Shajahan is the other accused named in the first information report (FIR).

Meanwhile, the police were yet to register an FIR over a complaint filed by Mr. Gopalakrishnan’s wife Shirley alleging cyberattack by purported Left supporters in the wake of the case registered against her husband. The complaint lodged with the North Paravur police has been forwarded to the Cyber Crime police station, Ernakulam Rural. The complainant, a differently abled woman, has alleged that photos of hers and her family members were being circulated on social media with sexually coloured remarks.

Another woman, a relative of Mr. Gopalakrishnan and Ms. Shirley, has also lodged a complaint with the cyber police alleging cyberattack against her. In the complaint which was emailed on Saturday, the woman alleged that her photos were being shared online, falsely claiming to be of Mr. Gopalakrishnan’s daughter, and several people were making derogatory comments on such social media posts.

The row over the alleged attempts to defame Ms. Shine, who contested as the Left Democratic Front candidate in Ernakulam Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 elections, had triggered a political controversy in the State recently. Ms. Shine and her party leaders have accused Congress leadership of orchestrating the cyberattack targetting her, a claim rejected by the leaders of the opposition party. A special investigation team (SIT) headed by Munambam DySP S. Jayakrishnan is probing the case registered over Ms. Shine’s complaint.