Kochi | History-sheeter Arjun Ayanki has challenged Kerala Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala and asked him not to "intimidate" him, even as police intensified efforts to trace him in connection with a case of allegedly threatening a police officer.
In a Facebook post, Ayanki referred to Chennithala's recent warning that there would be a crackdown on goons threatening police officers and his remark, "Wait and see what comes next."
"I challenge Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala to order a reinvestigation into the case in which my friends and I were arraigned as accused and jailed. If the reinvestigation proves that I am innocent, then action should be taken against Circle Inspector Prashanth for abusing his authority by foisting a false case against me," Ayanki said.
He added that if that happened, he would personally honour the minister with a shawl and "even give him a kiss".
"But don't try to intimidate me. I come from a different political school," he said.
Ayanki's remarks came days after Chennithala said the government would crackdown on those threatening police officers. "Wait and see what comes next," the minister had said.
Police sources said the search for Ayanki has been intensified and investigators suspect that some of the social media posts attributed to him may have been uploaded by his associates.
Based on threatening voice messages recently received by Kothamangalam Circle Inspector, police tracked Ayanki's suspected location in Ernakulam district and launched searches.
Police are also identifying and tracing persons associated with him, officials said.
A native of Azhikode in Kannur district, Ayanki first came to public attention in connection with a gold smuggling network operating through Karipur airport.
According to investigators, he formed a criminal gang that initially provided protection to carriers transporting smuggled gold for syndicates operating in Koduvally, Malappuram and Kannur.
Police said the gang later began abducting gold carriers, assaulting them and snatching the smuggled gold.
Ayanki came under the Customs radar in 2021 after an alleged gold-snatching attempt that ended in a road accident at Ramanattukara in Kozhikode district, in which five people were killed.
The latest case against him stems from a police raid at a resort in Kothamangalam near here, where he and a friend were taken into custody on suspicion of assembling for criminal activities.
After being released on bail, Ayanki allegedly posted threatening messages on social media targeting Kothamangalam Station House Officer, who led the raid.
Based on the officer's complaint, police registered a fresh case against him.
The Kerala High Court recently dismissed Ayanki's anticipatory bail plea.
Police alleged that after the dismissal of his bail plea, he continued threatening police officers by sending voice messages through social media platforms.
