Saffron outfits protest killing of ABVP man in Kannur district
Saffron outfits observed a shutdown in north Kerala’s Kannur on Saturday to protest against the alleged political killing of an Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members a day before.
On Friday night, 24-year-old Shyamprasad, a member of the RSS’s students’ wing, was hacked to death in the district notorious for clashes between members of Left and right-wing outfits.
Police arrested four men in connection with the murder and said all the accused belonged to the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), the political arm of the fundamentalist outfit Popular Front of India. Police said Shyamprasad’s killing appeared to be in retaliation to an SDPI worker sustaining injuries in a clash between the group’s and RSS’s workers a few days ago.
“The accused were arrested along the Kerala-Karnataka border. They told us it was a retaliatory attack,” said investigating officer K Kuttikrishnan. Police have tightened the security in the district following the murder.
Kerala governor Justice Sathasivam criticised the recurring violence in northern part of Kerala. “This has disturbed me a lot. As we are aware, our State, which has the best human development index, is also one of the least corrupt States, with a laudable law and order situation. In spite of such achievements, murders and clashes like the one which occurred in Kannur yesterday (Friday) lower the image of the State”, he said.
BJP attacks Left
The BJP was quick to mount an attack on Kerala’s ruling Left government, accusing it of prompting extremist outfits to attack workers affiliated with saffron organisations .
“The ruling Left is supporting fundamentalist outfits in a big way. The latest murder clearly shows that both are hand in glove. They [CPI(M)] prompt such forces to take on RSS, BJP leaders and police are also helping them,” state BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan alleged, adding that his party would press for a total ban on the PFI and its constituent SDPI.
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