The murder of two Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) workers in Venjaranmoodu on Onam eve on Sunday has triggered a violent stand-off between the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the district.
Late on Sunday, an armed gang waylaid Mithilaj, 30, a member of the DYFI in Thevalakadu, and Muhammad Haq, 24, CPI (M) branch member, Kallinmukhan unit, at Thembanpadu.
A senior police officer said political vendetta might be a motive for the murder. The locality had witnessed inter-party violence in the past. However, there could also be personal reasons, he added.
The police have detained three persons for questioning in connection with the double murder. But law enforcers have not revealed the identity or political allegiance of those arrested.
The police have been deployed in strength in the area to prevent any tit-for-tat violence. Patrolling has been stepped up in Kannur, Thrissur and Kozhikode districts, which had witnessed political violence in the past.
The incident provoked CPI(M) workers to march to the office of the Public Service Commission where two Congress legislators, Shafi Parambil and K. S. Sabarinathan, were on a sit-in dharna to spotlight the government’s “apathy” towards jobless youth. The police broke up the ensuing scuffle and arrested and removed opposing party workers, including the MLAs, from the spot.
The police also prevented a belligerent DYFI march to the official residence of the Leader of the Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala, at the Cantonment House here.
CM’s condemnation
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the twin murders. He posted the pictures of the DYFI men on his Facebook account. Mr. Vijayan announced a special team to probe the case. The police would bring to light the “plotters and the assassins”, he said and expressed his condolences to the bereaved families.
CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan slammed the Congress for the murders. He said the “Congress had ushered in Onam by spilling the blood of CPI(M) workers to create a sanguinary floral pattern in Thembamoodu”.
He charged that the heinous crime had cracked the veneer that the Congress swore by democratic politics. Instead, the Congress “practised assassination as an instrument to further political interests”.
Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president Mullapally Ramachandran and Mr. Chennithala condemned the crime. They said Congress did not endorse the politics of murder.
CPI (M) district secretary Anavoor Nagappan and Minister for Tourism and Cooperation, Kadakampally Surendran visited Venjaranmoodu and paid their respects to the mortal remains of the DYFI men. Both accused senior Congress leaders of having a “conspiratorial role” in the murder and alleged that both Mr. Chennithala and Mr. Ramachandran could not wash their hands of the terrible crime.
