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Kerala Police has registered an FIR against Union Minister Suresh Gopi for allegedly misusing an ambulance by traveling on it to reach the Thrissur Pooram venue.
Thrissur East police registered the case under sections 279 of IPC and 179,288,192 of the Motor Vehicle Act. The FIR states that Gopi travelled in an ambulance which should be used only for transporting patients. The case was registered on the complaint of CPI district leader Sumesh KP. Gopi traveled in the ambulance on the day when it was alleged that the Thrissur Pooram was deliberately disrupted. The Opposition the Congress-led UDF had alleged that the disruption was made to favour Gopi who was then the BJP's candidate from the Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency. The Thrissur Pooram row has sparked political debate within the state as the opposition claimed that police intervened in the rituals which led to a disruption. The Kerala Police's investigation is currently going on in the Pooram disruption allegation. Suresh Gopi earlier demanded a CBI probe on the allegations made against him over the use of an ambulance to reach the festival site. "This Pooram disruption is going to be a boomerang. Unlike Surendran's (BJP state president) claim, I did not arrive at the scene in an ambulance. I arrived in a private car, the district president's personal vehicle. If someone claims they saw me in an ambulance, they need to clarify whether it was a real sight or an illusion. To find the truth, Kerala's police under Pinarayi will not suffice; a CBI investigation is necessary. I am prepared to face it. They should call in the CBI. Many, including former and current ministers in Kerala, fear being questioned," Gopi had said. However, he retracted this statement later, saying that he had to travel in the ambulance after his car was attacked by goons, getting his legs injured. (ANI)
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