Kerala Motor Vehicle Department has seized one bus of IndiGo airline over allegations of ‘tax evasion’ on Tuesday, hours after the airline put the ruling communist party LDF’s convenor on a ‘no-fly’ list following a scuffle with Youth Congress leader. The state government department has claimed the airline evaded road tax worth Rs 40,000. The bus conducts service at the Karipur Airport and was at the Feroke workshop for repair works.
As per reports, IndiGo owes state department tax dues of past six months. The seized bus will only be released after dues are cleared. The MVD, however, has claimed that this seizing of bus over ‘tax evasion’ has nothing to do with the recent decision of the airline to put the ruling party, LDF’s convenor on a ‘no-fly’ list.
Few weeks back, a scuffle broke out between Left Democratic Front (LDF) leader EP Jayarajan and Kerala Youth Congress workers in an IndiGo flight. The officials claimed that they did not take action earlier because the bus was inside the airport premises. Youth Congress members Naveen Kumar RK and Farsin Majeed PP were found guilty of Level I offence and were banned from flying with IndiGo for a period of 2 weeks. Similarly, EP Jayarajan was found guilty of a Level II offence and was banned from flying with the airline for a period of 3 weeks, starting July 16 this year.
The official further claimed that the bus was not seized but was kept inside the workshop and will be released once dues are cleared along with penalty of Rs 7500.
The Background of the incident
On June 13, 2022, activists of the Kerala Youth Congress boarded a commercial flight flying Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to Thiruvananthapuram from Kannur and waved black flags at him to protest against police harassment.
The chief minister was at Kannur on a three-day official tour. The Youth Congress workers were nabbed by the CM’s security team and LDF leader Jayarajan, and were handed over to the CISF.
Jayarajan described the incident as worse than a “terrorist strike.” The incident was also criticized by CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who claimed that Youth Congress workers were plotting to attack the CM.
Meanwhile, Congress leader VD Satheesan described it as a “symbolic protest against police repression.” Farzeen Majid, head of the Youth Congress Mattanur block and one of the protestors, claimed that their objective was just to register a protest.
He alleged that the Youth Congress workers were “brutally beaten” at the airport by the CM’s security team and Jayarajan, thereby inflicting serious injuries on the Youth Congress workers.
They were also charged with a case of an attempt to murder. The Valiyathura police department registered the case under Indian Penal Code Section 307 after receiving a complaint from Chief Minister’s bodyguard Anil Kumar.
According to reports, this incident also prompted attacks on certain Congress offices, including the State Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, purportedly by members of the CPI(M) and its youth wing DYFI.
