Kerala home minister Ramesh Chennithala said on Thursday that the government would investigate whether the controversial “Kiss Of Love” protest held in the state last year was used as a shield for sex trade, online prostitution or other such unlawful activities. The minister’s statement comes a day after six people, including organisers of the non-violent movement, were arrested in connection with an online prostitution case in Kochi, reported PTI.

Chennithala told reporters, “Those who had been in the front of [the] Kiss of Love protest are among the key accused in the case. It is evident that they will go any extent to meet their selfish motives. We will investigate whether the Kiss of Love protest was used as a shield for any such unlawful activities.” However, the minister added that he did not believe that all those who participated in protest against moral policing had such intentions.

The Kiss of Love movement is a non-violent protest against moral policing that started as a Facebook page last year, before gathering momentum. It was opposed by various right-wing political and religious groups, including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal.