In yet another incident related to CPI(M)’s terror campaign against the BJP, a young worker was brutally attacked with swords near Pavaratty in central Kerala’s Thrissur district on Friday even as the northern district of Kannur, where people have been living in panic after last week’s political murders, has started limping back to normal.
BJP activist Vishnu Prasad (27) was hacked by a CPI(M) gang which had followed him in a car as he was on his motorbike at about 10.30 am. He has been admitted to a private hospital in Thrissur city with serious hack wounds in the head and hand.
The assailants attacked Vishnu even after he took refuge in a house. People found him sitting near a bridge at Idiyanchira with blood oozing from his wounds.
“A gang of criminals of the CPI(M) led by a man named Saneesh is behind this attempt to murder Vishnu. This incident is an indication of the Marxists in the Pavaratty area resorting to large-scale violence. We are not going allow this. We want the culprits arrested immediately,” said a BJP leader.
According to police sources, Vishnu Prasad was brother of Vijay Shankar, an accused in the case pertaining to the murder of Mathilakathu Shihabuddin, branch committee member of the CPI(M) in Thirunalloor near Pavaratty, on March 1, 2015. The police suspect that Friday’s attack was an act of revenge.
Meanwhile, Kannur district, where a local CPI(M) leader and a BJP-RSS activist were hacked to death within a span of 48 hours early last week, has started limping back to normal with the police keeping strict vigil in all vulnerable areas.
Police personnel in large numbers are on guard duty in vulnerable areas though nine days have passed since the last incident of major violence. The focus of the police’s activities in Dharmadom and other vulnerable areas is on recovering hidden explosives and weapons intended for perpetrating violence.
A raid at a house at Chamathakkad near Panur on Friday yielded a huge quantity of explosive materials and weapons like swords and machetes.
The materials were kept hidden in a locked house belonging to one Purushan. The police, who said the materials would suffice for making several high-intensity country bombs, informed that a search was on for the house-owner.
local CPI(M) leader Kuzhichalil Mohanan (52) was hacked to death on the morning of October 10 by suspected RSS-BJP activists at the toddy shop where he was working in Pathiriyad village in the Dharmadom constituency area. The police have already taken into custody some persons in connection with incident.
Within 48 hours of the Mohanan’s murder, BJP activist Ramith (27) was hacked to death by a Marxist gang at a petrol pump near his house in Pinarayi, the CM’s native village on October 12. Ramith’s father Uthaman, also a BJP worker, was killed in a Marxist attack in 2002. A CITU worker and a local DYFI leader have already been held in connection with Ramith’s murder.
“We have learned that weapons and explosives have been kept buried in the Koothuarambu, Thalassery and Panur areas by both organizations. This is indeed a matter of concern though we have been successful in recovering such collections,” said a police official, adding that there were Intelligence reports about the possibility of trouble in some places.
The Kannur district administration and different organizations have intensified their efforts to restore peace in Kannur, which had witnessed seven political killings since May, at the earliest. The Revenue Department is in the process of assessing the loss of property in incidents of violence.