The Judicial First Class Magistrate Court, Vadakara, on Tuesday turned down the bail plea filed by Jithin Bhaskaran, a local leader of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), in the ‘kafir screenshot’ case.

According to sources, the court heard the arguments related to the case on Monday. Counsel for Mr. Bhaskaran had argued that the charge against him was politically motivated and that the DYFI leader had fully cooperated with the police probe. Mr. Bhaskaran’s mobile phone had been in police custody as well.

However, the prosecution argued that police custody would be necessary as more evidence needed to be collected in the case. Though Mr. Bhaskaran’s lawyer also claimed that his questioning had been completed, the court rejected his arguments. The court also took into consideration the fact that the probe was still in its early stages. There was a possibility of involvement of more culprits and a risk of the suspect destroying vital evidence if released.

The case is related to the creation and circulation of a WhatsApp screenshot with communal content ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Vadakara constituency. The United Democratic Front’s (UDF) Shafi Parambil and the Left Democratic Front’s K.K. Shailaja were pitted against each other in the election. The screenshot, purportedly in the name of Muslim Students’ Federation district secretary P.K. Mohammed Khasim, portrayed Mr. Parambil as a religious and pious youth and his political rival as a ‘kafir’ (infidel).

Even though the police had investigated the case and a Vadakara court and the High Court issued orders related to it, the probe did not make much of a headway. The police could only conclude that Ribesh Ramakrishnan, who was a DYFI leader then, was the one who circulated it. However, they could not prove who created it. The case got a fresh lease of life after the UDF came to power and a special investigation team (SIT) was formed to re-investigate the case. The SIT zeroed in on Mr. Bhaskaran after detailed questioning of admins of pro-Left social media groups.