Kerala police on Tuesday registered a case against the principal, the student editor and five others of a government technical training institute on charges of insulting Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the institute magazine.

In February, the student magazine of Government Polytechnic at Kunnamkulam in Thrissur had carried the photograph of Modi along with those of sandalwood smuggler Veerappan, Hitler, terrorist Ajmal Kasab, LTTE leader V Prabhakaran and Osama Bin Laden. All these photographs were put in a single page under the title, “negative faces”.

The magazine was brought out by the college union Students Federation of India, the student wing of CPM. The case was registered under various sections of IPC 153, 500, 501 and 504.

Institute principal Babu Raj said a few students owing allegiance to ABVP complained against the magazine on Monday. “Although the magazine was for 2012-13 academic year, it was brought out only in February this year. On account of the controversy, the magazine stands withdrawn with immediate effect.”
Student editor Praveen Kumar said ABVP men were creating an untimely controversy as the magazine was published months ago. But the principal said the magazine was distributed among students only last week.