Hours after being taken into custody, senior Kerala politician PC George was granted bail over his remarks against Muslims in the state.
As per The News Minute, the politician was taken into custody by police early on Sunday, 1 May, by the police from the Fort police station in Thiruvananthapuram from his residence in Erattupetta of Kottayam district.
The former Kerala Congress leader had sparked a controversy by asking non-Muslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the community.
Addressing a programme organised as part of the ongoing Ananthapuri Hindu Maha Sammelan in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, he had alleged that “tea laced with drops causing impotence” were sold in Muslim-run restaurants to turn people infertile in a bid to seize control of the country – a claim that has already been established as fake news in the past, the TNM report stated.
The 70-year-old politician, who represented the Poonjar constituency in the Assembly for 33 years, had also urged non-Muslims to boycott businesses run by Muslims.
The ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress have also condemned his remarks.
The police at the Fort police station took suo motu action against the former legislator on the directions of the state police chief Anil Kant. George has been booked under Section 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups) of the Indian Penal Code, and is being taken to Thiruvananthapuram, police said.
It is not the first time PC George has found himself in a controversy. The MLA is known for his obscene language and derogatory comments against women and for making anti-Dalit comments. In the 2021 Assembly elections, no political party wished to give him a ticket and he contested the elections as an independent candidate.
(With inputs from The News Minute.)
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