Former Students Federation of India (SFI) leader K. Vidya has been sent to judicial custody till July 6th for allegedly forging documents for a guest lecturer’s job in a government college in Kerala. A court in Palakkad has allowed the police to take her into custody for the next two days. Vidya, however, claims her arrest on Wednesday night was a trap against her and the state CPI(M) leadership by the Congress. Vidya is accused of forging her experience certificate to secure the post of a guest lecturer at a state-run college in Palakkad. She learned to have told the police that she has done no wrong and that she is a victim of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by the Congress-backed teachers’ organisation. Meanwhile, her anticipatory bail will come up on Saturday, when her police custody ends.
A Kasargod resident, Vidya was taken into police custody from her friend’s house in Kozhikode on Wednesday night. Veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala questioned the efficiency of the Kerala Police, rejecting Vidya’s claim. CPI(M) central committee leader A.K.Balan countered the delay in the arrest of Vidya by pointing out that when the country is burning, the Prime Minister is doing yoga in the US. Balan said the SFI rules in more than 80% of the educational institutions and the support base of the CPI(M) is around 45%, which shows SFI has a significant support base cutting across political parties. Vidya has been booked under Section 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (committing forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC.
Meanwhile, Vidya’s counsel said, We do not know how she was taken into custody when her anticipatory bail plea was pending before the High Court. Responding to the development, the Congress accused the police of playing a foul game as, despite knowing everything, they did not take any action against those CPI(M) leaders who managed to keep her out of the public glare.
