A Muslim League worker was hacked to death and his brother was grievously assaulted allegedly by CPI(M) activists in Kerala’s Kannur district within hours of the conclusion of the elections to the State Assembly.
Manzoor who was hacked by a group of persons around 8 pm in front of his house late Tuesday night breathed his last in the wee hours of Wednesday at a corporate hospital in Kozhikode. His brother Mohsin who was injured in the attack has been admitted to a hospital in a critical stage.
R Ilango, superintendent of police, Kannur, said the murder was political in nature and a neighbor of Manzoor has been taken into custody. He refused to disclose more details as the police was into the process of investigation. “We have enough information that proves that more than ten persons were injured in this attack,” he said.
Muslim League leader P K Kunhalikutty visited the residence of the vistim and consoled the parents. Elsewhere in the State, the CPI(M) launched attacks on Congress workers resulting in the hospitalization of two workers belonging to the Grand Old Party getting seriously injured.
“The CPI(M) has become a party of murderers and they have been taken over by a fear of losing the polls. The Marxists become violent when they understand that they are about to lose the polls. This has been the precedence in Kerala,” said Chennithala while speaking to reporters. Though Wednesday has been by and large peaceful, there was no shortage of verbal duel by the leaders of Congress and the CPI(M). Mullappalli Ramachandran, KPCC president blamed the CPI(M) and BJP for transferring votes to each other with the sole objective of defeating the Congress.
He alleged that the CPI(M) voted in favor of the BJP at Manjeswaram where the Hindutwa party had fielded K Surendran as its candidate while the BJP is believed to have voted in favor of the Congress.
But K Surendran alleged that Ramachandran has lost his mental balance resulting in incoherent statements by the latter. Charges and Counter charges were seen flying from the camps of Marxists and the BJP as the high pitch campaign has given way to a period of inactivity.
All political parties have to undergo a period of inactivity for the next 26 days as results would be announced only on May 2.
