A magistrate court in Kerala’s Ernakulam district on Friday granted bail to YouTuber K M Shajahan in a case pertaining to social media attacks on CPI(M) leader K J Shine. Last week, Shine had complained to police against Shajahan, once a close confidant of late chief minister V S Achuthanandan, on charges of raising malicious allegations against her through his YouTube channel, ‘Prathipaksham’. Subsequently, police booked him on charges of stalking, insulting the modesty of a woman, publishing slanderous material in electronic media and causing nuisance through any means of communication. He was questioned for six hours, but his arrest was not recorded for want of evidence. On Thursday, Shine moved a fresh complaint against Shajahan and police booked him under section 67 (a non-bailable offence for transmitting obscene material) of the IT Act, among other sections. Three and a half hours after the case was registered, Ernakulam rural police took Shajahan into custody from Thiruvananthapuram, around 230 km away. On Friday police produced him before a court, requesting that he be remanded for 14 days. However, the court gave him bail. After emerging out of court, Shajahan, who had been additional private secretary to Achuthanandan from 2001 to 2006, told reporters, “The allegation against me is baseless. The government has resorted to taking every step to target me. Nobody can threaten me. I have not insulted anyone. I had done several videos against prominent persons in the Left government, but I had not faced any case.”
