The police have arrested a Swiss national after he participated on Monday in a meeting in remembrance of Maoist leader Thalikkulam Velekkad Sinoj.

The Valapad police took into custody Jonathan Bord after he allegedly spoke at the meeting held at SNDP School in Thriprayar. A case has been registered under Section 14 B of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and Section 2 (B) of the Foreigners’ Amendment Act, 2004.

He was taken into custody on Tuesday evening to be produced before the Thrissur Judicial First Class Magistrate.

Bord had arrived in Kerala on a tourist visa and was staying at Kannur, the police said.

He did not furnish on Monday his original passport at a hotel in Thrissur where he looked for a room to stay. He then got a copy of the passport faxed from Kannur, the police said.

He was interrogated in the Valapad police station from Tuesday morning.

The police are investigating why he is in Kerala and his possible links with Maoist groups.

Police sources said he was not cooperating with the investigation.

Sinoj alias Ramesan, a member of the People’s Liberation Guerrilla Army of the CPI (Maoist), was killed reportedly in a blast while making explosives at a place on the Karnataka- Andhra Pradesh border. The information was communicated by Maoist groups to Sinoj’s family at Valapad.