Case against Asianet News reporter: Copy of SFI leader's complaint sought from Kerala police

Asianet News Chief reporter Akhila Nandakumar sought a copy of SFI state secretary PM Arsho's complaint to fully understand the accusations made against her. She was instructed to appear at the Kochi District Crime Branch office on Friday (June 16).

Kochi: Asianet News Chief Reporter Akhila Nandakumar has responded to the police notice in the conspiracy case. Akhila was instructed to appear for questioning at the Kochi District Crime Branch office at 10 am on Friday (June 16). 

Akhila countered, however, that in order to fully understand the accusations made against her, she requires a copy of the SFI State Secretary's complaint, and she has already made a court application in this regard. Akhila added that she is also petitioning the High Court to dismiss the baseless charges brought against her.  

Akhila informed the District Crime Branch in writing that due to these circumstances, she would not be able to present today.

The matter pertains to a case against reporter Akhila Nandakumar for reporting controversies related to SFI state secretary PM Arsho's mark list.

The Kerala Police filed a First Information Report (FIR) based on a complaint from Students' Federation of India state secretary PM Arsho, claiming a conspiracy against him. The Kochi Police even formed a special investigation team to probe the case based on Arsho's complaint. They took the statements of the first two accused, Maharaja's College Principal V S Joy and Department of Archeology head Dr Vinod Kumar. They allegedly testified that the mark list controversy against the SFI state secretary was only a technical glitch and there was no conspiracy. 

The case has been registered under sections 120-B, 465,469 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code  (IPC) and 120 (o) of the Kerala Police (KP) Act 2011 including criminal conspiracy, forgery, and defamation.