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Cong. MLA gets bail in forgery case

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM OCT. 4. The Congress MLA, Shobhana George, who was arrested on charges of conspiracy and forgery by the Crime Branch team probing the "Intelligence letter'' forgery case was today granted conditional bail by the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), N.J. Jose.

The bail was granted after the execution of a bond of Rs. 10,000 by two sureties. Ms. George's husband, Isaac George, and her relative, Laila Mohan, stood sureties for Ms. George's bond. The court directed her to appear before the investigating officer as and when required by the Crime Branch.

Ms. George was told to cooperate with the investigation, not to interfere or influence the investigation and not to destroy evidence relating to the case.

The bail application was moved by Ms. George's counsel on Friday morning. The CJM postponed the hearing to afternoon after the prosecution failed to appear for the hearing.

When the bail plea came up for hearing in the afternoon, the Assistant Public Prosecutor requested that the hearing be postponed to the next day.

However, the CJM ruled against the plea and granted bail to the MLA.

Ms. George is at present under treatment at the Medical College Hospital where she was admitted on Thursday as a remand prisoner.

Our Staff Reporter adds from Kannur:

The senior Congress leader, K. Karunakaran, said that Ms. George should have been shown the consideration due to a woman.

Mr. Karunakaran, who reached here this morning on his way to attend a function at Kasaragod, was replying to queries of presspersons on the arrest of Ms. George.

Asked how he would see the arrest of one of his colleagues in the party, he said Ms. George was also a colleague of those who had hunted her down.

"She should be punished if she is guilty, or protected if she is not, that is the procedure of the party,'' he said.

On his views about the forgery case, Mr. Karunakaran refused to react saying that the matter was now in the court.

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