Maharaja's weapons raid: Opposition slap breach of privilege notice on CM

The Opposition served a breach of privilege notice against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the Assembly on Wednesday, in connection with the Maharaja's College weapons case.

The Congress-led Opposition stated that Pinarayi misled the Assembly by claiming that the police had only seized “construction tools” from the staff quarters of Maharaja's College, Kochi. Thrikkakara MLA PT Thomas and Ernakulam MLA Hibi Eden served the notice accusing the CM of breach of privilege.

Acting on a complaint from the college principal last week, the police had seized 14 iron bars, four wooden batons and a long knife from a room in the college staff quarters, which was allotted to a group of students on a temporary basis.

Also read: Police seized construction material, not weapons, from Maharaja’s: Pinarayi

The police filed a case under the Arms Act and described the items recovered as 'weapons' in the FIR filed before the court. The FIR says they seized a sharp knife which was not used for domestic purposes and that the iron bars were about two meters long, had handles and were not the type used in the construction business.

However, speaking in the Assembly, the CM said no bombs or swords were seized from the college, and that the police only found some "construction tools" such as iron bars, wooden planks, a knife and a ladder.

The Congress MLAs accused Pinarayi of misleading the house by withholding information from the FIR. The Opposition said they suspect that the CM was trying to influence the investigation with his remarks.

However, Pinarayi refused to budge from his stand. “I was not making up things and was only quoting from the FIR. The FIR is clear on the seized tools and I was saying exactly the same,” reports quoted him as saying.

• Maharaja's College
• Pinarayi Vijayan
• weapons raid