Explosive attack, 500 km road trip and troll storm after protest against Kerala Minister George

Kannur, Feb 27 (IANS) Political tensions escalated sharply after an explosive device was hurled at the residence of a Kerala Students Union (KSU) leader who had protested against Health Minister Veena George, even as questions mounted over the circumstances surrounding the minister’s reported injury and subsequent 500 km road journey to the state capital.

The pre-dawn attack targeted the house of KSU district secretary Bithul Balan at Thiruvallur in Kozhikode around 2.30 a.m.

Balan is currently in remand after being arrested for showing black flags to the minister at a railway station during a protest in Kannur railway platform on Wednesday.

Police have launched an investigation into the explosion, which has injected fresh volatility into the political atmosphere.

Earlier, the minister had been discharged from Pariyaram Medical College after sustaining “injuries” during clashes involving KSU activists.

A medical board that met online late at night assessed that her condition had improved and that her blood pressure was returning to normal levels.

Around 4 a.m., she began her return journey by road possibly to the state capital city, a distance of roughly 500 km travelling in her official vehicle.

The decision to undertake such a long road trip soon after hospitalisation has raised eyebrows in political circles, with critics asking whether a “patient” would normally embark on such a long inter city journey of that scale.

Supporters, however, maintain that the transfer was based on medical advice and improved health parameters.

The investigation team is set to again seek permission to record the minister’s statement, which had earlier been deferred on health grounds.

Officials have also sought CCTV footage from the Railway Protection Force at the Kannur railway station to piece together events at the protest site.

Meanwhile, the political narrative has shifted to social media.

With no visuals yet emerging to substantiate claims made by the minister or the Communist Party of India (Marxist) regarding the alleged attack, trolling and satire have proliferated online.

–IANS

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