October 2023 Kerala blast: Govt sanctions police to seek US help in probe into Rajeev Chandrasekhar's Facebook post

Kochi: The Left government in Kerala has granted sanction to the state police to seek US assistance in the probe into a Facebook post allegedly made from the account of BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar, following the twin bomb blasts at a Jehovah's Witnesses convention in Kalamassery that killed eight people on October 29, 2023.

Chandrasekhar, a former union minister, is currently the president of the BJP's Kerala unit.

The case concerning the post allegedly made from Chandrasekhar’s Facebook page was registered by Ernakulam Central Police two days after the incident, based on a complaint from the Ernakulam Cyber Cell.

The FIR alleged that the Facebook post, purportedly from Chandrasekhar's account, attempted to disturb communal harmony and carried a provocative remark mentioning the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the background of the blasts at Kalamassery.

The post blamed the Congress and the CPI(M), claiming that they were indulging in appeasement politics, with the hashtags HamasTerrorist and KochiTerrorAttacks.

It was purportedly pointing fingers towards Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who virtually attended a pro-Palestine protest held in Kerala, a day before the blast.

According to a Government Order issued on September 8, the State Police Chief had sought permission on July 17, 2025, to submit a Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) request through the online portal in connection with Crime No. 3408/2023 registered at Ernakulam Central Police Station.

"The Government is pleased to accord sanction to the State Police Chief to send Mutual Legal Assistance in Crime No. 3408/2023 to the Ministry of Home Affairs through the online portal for obtaining legal assistance from the competent authorities in the United States of America," the order said.

The Inspector General of Police, Crime Branch, who is the state's Interpol liaison officer, has been directed to take steps to submit the request in line with central guidelines, it said.

A police source, speaking exclusively to PTI, said MLA is being sought to obtain details from social media platforms based in the US, including Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).

"The MLA request will be routed through the CBI, which is India's Interpol nodal agency. The Interpol agency in the US will facilitate the request by collecting information from the concerned social media firms there," a police officer said.

Police had also registered another case (Crime No. 3418/2023) against Chandrasekhar and BJP national secretary Anil Antony on similar charges over posts taking the name of Hamas.

Both cases were filed under IPC Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language or caste), and Section 120(o) of the Kerala Police Act (causing nuisance).

Chandrasekhar later approached the Kerala High Court, which directed police not to take any coercive action against him. The investigation in these cases is still on, a police officer said.

Hours after the deadly blast, Palarivattom native Joseph Martin surrendered before a court in Thrissur district, taking responsibility for the incident.

He claimed that he did so following vengeance towards the Christian group.