Gold smuggling case: Wrestling on plane as protests against Pinarayi Vijayan reach the skies; law & order takes a nosedive in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The street protests by opposition parties over chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan's alleged links to the gold smuggling case that has roiled Kerala over the last week took a dangerous turn on Monday evening when two Youth Congress activists raised slogans against the CM inside a plane when he was on his way back to the state capital from Kannur. LDF convener EP Jayarajan, who was accompanying the CM on the flight, blocked the protesters and pushed both of them to the floor of the aircraft.
Though the scuffle happened while the aircraft had touched down, it was widely seen as crossing a red line.Aviation experts said that what the two protesters did and Jayarajan's physical response potentially endangered the aircraft and the safety of passengers and all three could figure in a 'no-fly' list, with the CPM leader's action arguably the more serious offence.
The incident on the plane triggered violent protests in many parts of the state -- CPM and DYFI workers attacked the KPCC headquarters and clashes were reported in places as wide apart as Iritty and Adoor. A video grab of the incident posted on social media by Youth Congress state vice-president K S Sabarinathan showed Farzin Majeed and Naveen Kumar - Mattannur block president and Kannur district secretary of Youth Congress respectively -with one of them dressed symbolically in black, in the aisle of an Indigo flight reportedly walking towards where the CM and his entourage were seated as soon as the flight landed at Thiruvananthapuram airport.