Representative image of accused held.
Credit: iStock Photo
Kerala police on Saturday arrested Shajan Skaria, the editor of a YouTube news channel, in connection with an alleged forgery and counterfeit case filed against him at Thrikkakara police station in Ernakulam.
Skaria was arrested from Nilambur police station in northern Malappuram district, where he appeared on Saturday morning before the investigation officer in another case in connection with allegedly inciting religious hatred through his YouTube channel - Marunadan Malayali.
He appeared before the Nilambur police after the Kerala High Court had recently directed him to cooperate with the investigation in the case filed against a conversation he aired in his YouTube channel with a Christian priest.
He had secured an anticipatory bail in that case and the High Court had warned to cancel the bail if he failed to appear before the Nilambur police today.
After his interrogation in the religious hatred case, Nilambur police recorded his arrest and gave him bail based on the high court order. However, the Thrikkakara police soon arrested him and took him to Kochi.
Multiple cases have been lodged against the YouTube channel 'Marunadan Malayali' and its editor Skaria across the state in various matters.
The case at Thrikkakara police station pertains to allegedly submitting a fake BSNL bill as address proof while registering his media house with the Registrar of Companies. He is being probed by the police in multiple cases including an SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by an MLA belonging to the ruling Left front.
The High Court had earlier made scathing observations against the online news channel’s style of functioning.