An RSS worker, K Vipin (27), son of Kundil Babu, Thrippangode was hacked to death by unidentified persons at Tirur in Kerala’s Muslim-majority Malappuram district on Thursday morning.
Vipin’s body was found lying in a pool of blood with many hack wounds on the roadside at Pulinchode, BP Bazar in Tirur at around 7.00 AM Thursday. The area is said to be the stronghold of an Islamist organisation.
According to the police, Vipin, a construction worker, could have come under attack when he was on his way to the workplace. He was the second accused in the case pertaining to the murder of P Faizal (30), originally a Hindu named Anil Kumar who had embraced Islam in 2015, from Kodinhi, Malappuram in November last.
Vipin’s murder pushed the Tirur region into tension. Concerned about possibilities of communal flare-up, the police put several areas under Tirur Municipality and the nearby Thrippangode and Thalakkad panchayats under prohibitory orders. Police personnel were deployed in large numbers in the sensitive areas. The police said action would be taken against those carrying implements that could be used for violence, holding demonstrations, indulging in hate campaigns and spreading messages through social media that amounted to inciting religious enmity. However, situation was totally under control, senior police officials claimed.
Inspector General of Police MR Ajithkumar said the force was leaving nothing to chance and had taken all measures to ensure peace. “The police have been given permission to adopt any measures needed to deal with a situation of communal tension,” he told the media.
Faizal of Kodinhi was murdered on November 19, 2016, a year after he embraced Islam and accepted the Muslim name. The police had arrested 16 persons including Faizal’s brother-in-law for the murder. A court had released Vipin, second accused in the case, on bail on April 27. After Faizal’s death, his mother embraced Islam in December last. His other family members, including two sisters, also had reportedly converted to Islam two months ago. “Tension has been prevailing in Kodinhi and other areas since Faizal’s murder,” said a Tirur resident.