Thiruvananthapuram: Former SFI leader K Vidya, who was accused of securing a teacher’s job in a government college in Kerala by forging documents has been arrested, sources said on Thursday.
Vidya has been booked under non-bailable sections based on complaints filed by the principals of Attappadi Government College, Palakkad, and Karinthalam Arts and Science College in Neeleswaram near Kasaragod, accusing her of appearing for an interview for the post of guest lecturer using fake documents.
Ernakulam Central police too registered a similar case against Vidya based on a complaint filed by Maharaja's College.
The irregularities came to light in Vidya's PhD admission at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. It was accused that she misinterpreted a Kerala High Court verdict to gain admission.
The case was initially taken up by the Ernakulam Central police on June 6, who then handed it over to Agali police in Palakkad.
Vidya has been absconding ever since the news against her surfaced on the media. She has managed to remain in hiding for over two weeks. A Kasargod resident, Vidya was taken into police custody from her friend's house in Meppayur in Kozhikode.
In a statement to police after her arrest on Wednesday night, Vidya termed the case a "trap" set by the Congress against her and the state CPI(M) leadership.
She reportedly, told the police that she has done no wrong and that she is a victim of a "deep-rooted" conspiracy hatched by the Congress-backed teachers' organisation.
Reacting to the development, veteran Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told the media this morning at Kasargod that everything connected to Vidya is "stage-managed".
"Is Kerala Police so inefficient that they cannot catch an absconder? It's because the CPI(M)-led government does not wish to arrest one of their staunch supporters. It's been more than two weeks since this grave crime done by the SFI has come out and where is Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, why is he silent?" asked Chennithala.
CPI(M) central committee leader A.K.Balan countered the delay in the arrest of Vidya by pointing out that when the country is burning, the Prime Minister is doing yoga in the US.
"The Congress here is not bothered about such things and is busy targeting Vijayan and the SFI for vested interests. In Kerala, the SFI rules in more than 80 per cent of the educational institutions and the support base of the CPI(M) is around 45 per cent, which shows SFI has a huge support base cutting across political parties.
"So SFI is one organisation which has become part and parcel of the state and they are being targeted. Just look at the status of the Congress-led KSU, it's nowhere to be seen," said Balan.
Vidya has been booked under Section 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (committing forgery for the purpose of cheating) and 471 (fraudulently using forged documents as genuine) of the IPC and will later in the day be produced before a court in Palakkad.
Meanwhile, Vidya has sought anticipatory bail once again, in the case registered against her by the Neeleswaram police in Kasaragod. Her bail plea will be considered by the district sessions court on June 24.