Thiruvananthapuram, 3 Dec (H.S.):The Congress leadership is preparing to take strict action against MLA Rahul Mankootathil, who remains on the run for the seventh consecutive day after being booked under non-bailable sections based on a sexual assault complaint filed by a young woman. With mounting pressure and fresh allegations surfacing, the party is awaiting the court’s decision on his anticipatory bail plea, which will be heard today.
Police have intensified their search, expanding operations beyond Kerala. A team reached Bengaluru on Tuesday night, acting on credible intelligence that Rahul may be hiding there. Multiple searches were conducted, but the MLA could not be traced. Investigators also questioned the owner of the car reportedly used by Rahul to escape from Palakkad. The owner, a film actor, informed police that she was a close friend of Rahul and had been in contact with him recently.
Meanwhile, party sources indicate that if the Sessions Court takes adverse action, the Congress may move toward expelling Rahul from the party. He had earlier been suspended following widespread public outrage.
In a related development, activist Rahul Easwar, who had released a video supporting the MLA and attacking the complainant, continues his hunger strike inside Poojappura Central Prison, where he is currently lodged. He will be produced before the court today.
Police teams also raided a resort inside the Sathyamangalam forest range in Tamil Nadu after receiving information that Rahul might have stayed there through a relative of a Congress leader from Kasaragod. Though the resort was searched, the MLA was not found. Investigators later recovered the car suspected to have ferried him toward Bengaluru, though Rahul himself remained untraceable. Police have also collected statements from the caretaker of Rahul’s apartment in Kunnathurmedu, Palakkad.
Compounding the MLA’s legal troubles, a second sexual assault complaint has emerged. A 23-year-old woman wrote to KPCC president Sunny Joseph alleging that Rahul promised marriage, took her to a homestay, and brutally raped her. She stated that they had known each other for years and reconnected on Instagram in September 2023, before continuing contact through Telegram. The KPCC chief forwarded the email complaint to the State Police Chief on Tuesday afternoon.
Rahul maintains that a political conspiracy is behind the allegations, even as police continue their interstate search to track him down.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman
