Kerala: Senior politician PC George arrested in sexual assault case

Controversial Kerala politician P C George was on Saturday arrested here on the basis of a sexual assault complaint filed by an accused in the solar panel case two months after he was arrested and released on bail for hate speechThe seventyyearold George who represented the Poonjar constituency in the state Assembly for 33 years was taken into custody by the Cantonment police from a guest house in the capital city this afternoon in a dramatic moveAt that time the senior politician was being grilled by a team of Crime Branch personnel in connection with a conspiracy allegedly hatched to defame the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in smuggling charges levelled by gold smuggling case accused Swapna SureshAccording to police sources the sudden move to arrest George was made based on a secret statement given by the accused and according to a written complaint filed directly by her at the local police station here in this regardAs per the complaint the senior politician had allegedly behaved in a way insulting her modesty on February 10 at a guest house and sent her indecent messages in mobile phoneSoon after filing an FIR over the charges a team led by the Cantonment Assistant Commissioner took George into custodyHe has been charged under IPC Section 354 assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty and 354 a sexual harassment they saidHowever George rejected the charges and claimed that he had not done anything indecent and it was a false complaintA former chief whip while the Congressled UDF was in power George also alleged that the accused came up with a complaint now as he did not give a statement in favour of her in a case she had filed against former Chief Minister Oommen ChandyWhile speaking to the reporters outside the police station the politician again courted controversy by insulting a woman TV journalist who questioned him naming the accused which is illegalBesides journalists senior CPIM leader and Education Minister V Sivankutty were among those who strongly condemned his act George had sparked off a controversy in May by asking nonMuslims in Kerala to avoid restaurants run by the communityHowever within a few hours of his arrest George secured bail from a Magisterial courtHe had lost Poonjar his bastion to the Left Democratic Front candidate in the 2021 Assembly polls in a triangular fightThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever