The Kerala Police has started an inquiry to check whether there is sufficient ground to proceed with a complaint against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for allegedly instigating his party members to attack Congress workers, The Hindu reported on Saturday.

This came after a trial court in Ernakulam directed the police to conduct an investigation into the matter. The order was issued based on a petition filed by Muhammed Shiyas, the chief of Ernakulam District Congress Committee, according to Live Law.

The matter pertains to a speech by Pinarayi during an outreach programme in November.

A few members of the Indian Youth Congress were allegedly attacked on November 20 in Kannur after displaying black flags in front of the bus that was carrying the chief minister and other ministers, according to reports.

A day later, Vijayan was quoted as saying that the protestors were “pushed aside” by Democratic Youth Federation of India workers for attempting to jump in front of the bus, the Hindustan Times reported.

The Democratic Youth Federation of India is the youth wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), while the Indian Youth Congress serves as its equivalent for the Congress.

“Isn’t it to save their lives?” the chief minister had asked. “The protesters who risk their lives by jumping in front of the convoy must be shoved aside with force…Is it an attack on the protester? No, rather, it’s a life-saving act done by personnel of the DYFI [Democratic Youth Federation of India] and it’s a model that should be followed. Such acts must continue.”

In his petition, Shiyas accused Vijayan of making statements to instigate Democratic Youth Federation of India workers into attacking his party members during the outreach programme.

He added that Vijayan instigated, provoked and abetted his party workers to physically assault the Congress workers. The petition claimed that there was sufficient oral and documentary evidence against the chief minister in the matter.

The district Congress chief also claimed that the police had refused to file a first information report and investigate the allegations in the complaint.

On Saturday, The Hindu quoted unidentified police officials as saying that a probe had been launched into the matter under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The section is related to the steps a magistrate must take after taking cognisance of an offence on a complaint.