Sabarimala Issue: HC grants bail to activist Rahul Easwar
Kochi, Dec 21: The Kerala High Court Friday granted bail to Ayyappa Dharma Sena leader Rahul Easwar, who was re-arrested earlier this week for defying the bail conditions imposed in a case related to violent protests at Sabarimala in October.
He was arrested on Monday after a local court revoked his bail.
Granting the fresh conditional bail, Justice Sunil Thomas directed the activist not to enter Pamba, an important pilgrim spot enroute to the hill shrine of Lord Ayyappa at Sabarimala.
The judge also directed him to sign at Pathanamthitta police station once every month.
Easwar was arrested from a rest house in Palakkad on Monday, two days after the court at Ranni in Pathanamthitta district ordered his arrest for failure to appear before the local police as stipulated in the bail condition.
The Ayyappa Dharma Sena leader spearheaded protests against the implementation of the Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all age groups into the Lord Ayyappa temple.
He was earlier arrested in the case relating to violence at the Lord Ayyappa shrine when it was opened for the monthly prayers on October 17, for the first time after the apex court lifted the ban on menstrual age women visiting the shrine.
The local court, while granting bail, had stipulated several conditions, including that he has to appear in the Pathanamthitta police station every Saturday.
However, on December 8, he failed to appear, police had said, following which the court cancelled Easwar's bail.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
