The police probing the defamation complaint filed by K.J. Shine, a CPI(M) leader in Ernakulam, on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) arrested C.K. Gopalakrishnan, a local Congress leader in North Paravur, who has been arraigned as the first accused in the case.
Mr. Gopalakrishnan was let off on bail after his arrest was recorded by the Ernakulam Rural Cyber police at Aluva. The Congress leader turned up at the police station by 12 noon on Wednesday, almost a month after he was booked by the police, along with YouTuber K.M. Shajahan and a youth named Yaser Edapal. Recently, the Principal Sessions Court, Ernakulam had disposed off an anticipatory bail plea moved by Mr. Gopalakrishnan, after the police reported that only bailable offences were slapped on the accused. Last month, Mr. Shajahan was arrested by the special investigation team and granted bail by a magistrate court.
The police were yet to question Mr. Yaser. “He is believed to be outside the country as per latest information we have gathered. We are awaiting metadata on his social media account. Once we receive it from Meta, we will take further steps. A lookout circular will be issued if needed,” a police officer in the investigation team said. “The Facebook page in which Mr. Gopalakrishnan posted the alleged offensive content has already been removed by Meta,” the officer said.
The three accused have been charged under Section 78 (stalking) and 79 (insult the modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as well as Section 67 of the Information Technology (IT) Act (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act which deals with causing nuisance through any means of communication.
The FIR stated that the accused published content including the complainant’s name and photograph with sexually coloured remarks on different social media platforms from September 14, 2025 to September 18, 2025 with the intention to defame and hurt her by outraging the modesty of the woman.