Fringe right wing outfit leader arrested in connection with vandalism of film set

Police on Monday arrested a leader of a fringe right wing outfit in connection with the alleged vandalism of a cinema set near Kochi on May 24, an incident which drew a sharp reaction from Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

A district level leader of the Rashtriya Bajrang Dal was arrested in connection with the incident, police said.

He has been charged under various sections of the IPC, including 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language anddoing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony).

"We have registered a case. A Special Investigation Team has been constituted. The culprits will be arrested soon", Ernakulam Rural Superintendent of Police K Karthick told reporters.

He asserted that all the culprits involved in the incident would be arrested.

Expressing anguish over the attack, actor Tovino Thomas, who is starring in the film, said the "contractual set" of the film "Minnal Murali" was destroyed by a group of "racialists".

Police said the arrest was part of the probe by the Special Investigation Team formed for the purpose after a case was registered against six people allegedly involved in damaging the set erected for the Malayalam film.

In a Facebook post, Hari Palode, the leader of a right wing group AHP, congratulated a district leader of "Rashtiya Bajrang Dal" for destroying the set raised on the sand bed of the Periyar river in Kalady, near a temple.

He has also posted photos of the alleged vandalism on his Facebook page.

The incident drew a sharp reaction from Vijayan.

"Such an act should not have happened in our state," he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram in response to a query.

Referring to incidents of targeting film sets and crew of movies in other parts of the country, allegedly by certain 'communal elements' as part of implementing their communal agenda, the Chief Minister said, "This was not accepted by the people of this country."