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‘Not wrong’: CM defends party leaders’ visit to house of man killed in Panoor bomb blast
The deceased, Sheril (26) was allegedly killed on April 5 while making bombs on the terrace of an under-construction building in Panoor in Kannur district
It is “not at all wrong” to visit the residence of a deceased and console their relatives, said Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday while defending the visit of his party leaders to the residence of the man killed in crude bomb blast.
The deceased, Sheril (26) was allegedly killed on April 5 while making bombs on the terrace of an under-construction building in Panoor in Kannur district.
While the local leadership of the CPI(M) had earlier said there was a “lack of alertness” shown by the party leaders, Vijayan said it was simply ‘humane’ to visit the residence of a deceased in the neighbourhood.
“My personal view is that when there is a death in the neighbourhood, visiting that house is not forbidden. The question is whether the crime is being treated softly. There is no such soft treatment towards that crime. It’s not at all wrong to visit the residence of a deceased and console their relatives,” he told reporters at a press conference in Pathanamthitta.
“In our state, there is no need to make such bombs. Action has already been taken in this incident. A crime has been committed and there will be action against the accused,” he said.
The CM’s remarks come amid allegations by the Opposition against the ruling CPI(M) of “sponsoring and encouraging” the making of country bombs to “vitiate the atmosphere ahead of the parliamentary elections”. Police are probing the alleged link between the CPI(M) and the deceased and six other arrested accused.
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan had earlier claimed that “the deceased, those who assisted in ferrying the injured to the hospital and those who took part in the funeral were all CPI(M) members”.
“Then how can CPI(M) run away from owning up responsibility for making the bombs? The party is saying it has no links to the case because elections are coming. Were the bombs made to kill the UDF leaders? That’s all there is to know. As head of the home department, the chief minister is encouraging such filth and violence,” the LoP said in a statement.
CPI (M) state secretary MV Govindan, however, said that the party has no connection with the blast.
“We are a party that wants peace and harmony in society. So why should we encourage bomb making? When the blast occurred, there were DYFI workers among those who took the injured to the hospital. Isn’t it humane to take people to hospital in an incident like this?” Govindan told reporters.
