On 30th March, Kerala Congress shared a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) claiming that police found a large quantity of explosives in the houses of local RSS leader Vedakkeil Pramod and his cousin Vadakkeil Shanta. As per the post, 770 KG explosives were seized during the raids. However, this is a false claim, because the police found fireworks meant to be used in a Hindu festival, not explosives for terror acts as claimed by the party.
Kerala Congress wrote, “BJP men have often been caught in similar incidents of spreading terror and conspiring against the state.” They added, “What was the real aim of BJP behind the latest effort to amass such heavy explosives? Was it to terrorize and create political and communal tensions before the elections? Will the National Investigation Agency take over the investigation?”
With the post, Congress added screenshots of the recent and some old reports claiming the recovered “explosives” were meant for terror activities.
Several other social media handles made similar posts. One SaifuddinIndia wrote, “770 kg explosives recovered from #RSS leader’s house in Panur, #BJP regional leader wanted.” He shared a computer-generated image of PM Modi as Hitler and HM Amit Shah as his associate.
Congress supporter Vijay Thottathil wrote, “Headline says 770kg explosives seized from the house of RSS leader Pramod and his relative at Panoor, Kannur in Kerala. Since then, the so-called leader has been underground, and the police are on the hunt! I think the plan was to bomb the entire Kannur city. Terrorists should be arrested and punished soon.”
Sayema, the infamous propagandist who posed as RJ, also picked it up. She wrote, “Did you get to know of this news? Do not miss it.” She also shared a link to a report by Varthabharati. Notably, several reports said that police recovered explosives from the house of the RSS leader.
Interestingly, when OpIndia visited the link shared by Sayema, the report mentioned that the portal had a telephonic conversation with Kolavalloor SHO, who stated the reports of recovery were true. However, he added that the “explosives” were meant to be firecrackers for the upcoming Ugadi festival on 14th April, the New Year’s Day according to the Hindu calendar. Reports suggest that Vedakkeil Pramod had stored the fireworks to be distributed among the people during the festival.
Furthermore, Upon further research, we found a report by OnlyFacts that mentioned that the content recovered by the police was fireworks and meant for the upcoming Vishu festival. The festival marks the beginning of the Malayali New Year and is celebrated enthusiastically by the locals. OpIndia tried contacting Kolavallor police but could not connect.
The police arrested Pramod and seized the items as he did not take the necessary license for storing fireworks, making them illegal. Therefore, while the RSS worker did commit a crime by illegally storing fireworks for the upcoming Hindu New Year festival and therefore he was arrested, those were not explosives to be used in a terror act as the Congress party and others are alleging.
