‘Kafir’ screen shot case: DYFI leader granted bail

The Kozhikode Principal Sessions Court on Friday (July 3, 2026) granted bail to Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader Jithin Bhaskaran, who was arrested in connection with the controversial ‘kafir’ screenshot case that surfaced during the last Lok Sabha election campaign in Vadakara.

Principal Sessions Judge V.S. Bindu Kumar allowed the bail plea after reserving the order following two rounds of arguments. Mr. Bhaskaran has been in judicial custody since June 16 following his arrest in the case.

He approached the Sessions Court after the Judicial First-Class Magistrate Court-I, Vadakara, rejected his earlier bail petition. The court had accepted the prosecution’s argument that granting him bail would affect the progress of the investigation.

According to the prosecution, Mr. Bhaskaran, a former member of the DYFI Vadakara Block Committee and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] Thuruthi local committee, allegedly sent the controversial screenshot to around 200 recipients using WhatsApp’s broadcast feature and attempted to destroy all related digital evidence. The prosecution submitted that the district forensic division had recovered evidence to support these allegations.

The special investigation team (SIT) had earlier found that another DYFI leader, Ribesh Ramakrishnan, had circulated the screenshot through a WhatsApp group named ‘Vadakara Squad’. Investigators also found that Mr. Bhaskaran was the group’s administrator. The probe further revealed that the screenshot had subsequently been forwarded to several other WhatsApp groups.

The case, which triggered widespread political controversy in Kerala during the Vadakara Lok Sabha election campaign, relates to the circulation of a screenshot portraying Congress candidate Shafi Parambil as a “devout Muslim” and CPI(M) candidate K.K. Shailaja as a “kafir” (non-believer), while falsely attributing the post to Muslim Youth League worker Mohammed Kasim.

The SIT recently dropped Mohammed Kasim from the list of accused. During the hearing of the bail plea, Mr. Bhaskaran informed the court that he would cooperate with the probe and contended that the case was the result of a planned political conspiracy.