K Sudhakaran booked for speech made during assembly polls

Congress leader K Sudhakaran was yesterday booked by police following a court direction on a complaint that he allegedly asked UDF workers to cast bogus votes in his constituency during the assembly elections last month.

 A case had been registered for various IPC offences including abetment of offences, punishment for undue influence or impersonation at an election, against Sudhakaran who lost the election contesting from Uduma constituency, police said.

The case was registered based on a direction by a magistrate court in Hosdurg on a complaint from winning LDF candidate K Kunhiraman, they said.

The complainant alleged that in a video of a closed-door meeting which went viral in social media, Sudhakaran allegedly made a call to UDF workers to caste bogus votes to counter "rigging" by LDF.

Sudhakaran had maintained that he did not call for voter impersonation but only urged his party workers to increase the voting percentage.