CPI worker stab to death in Thalassery in Kannur district

|HT|

A Communist Party of India (Marxist) worker was stabbed to death in Thalassery in Kannur district in the early hours of Monday. The CPI(M) Kannur district secretary M V Jayarajan said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was behind the brutal murder. But the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kannur district secretary N Harisadan denied any role in the murder.

Police said K Haridas (54), a fisherman, was attacked while he was returning to his house after work around 2.30 am. They said his brother also sustained injuries while trying to save him. The assailant came on two motorbikes and they were waiting for Haridas, police said. Thalassery and surrounding areas are observing a shutdown in protest against the murder. Police said last week there was a minor clash between RSS and CPI(M) workers during a local temple festival in which two RSS activists were injured and the latest murder was suspected to be a sequel to this. “The RSS is trying to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of the district. It is targetting the party for protecting communal harmony. The RSS-BJP leaders should rein in their cadres,” said M V Jayarajan. He said a senior RSS leader had made a provocative speech last week and its leadership was aware of the latest incident. But BJP Kannur district secretary N Harisadan denied any role in the murder.

Notorious for red-saffron clashes, at least 200 workers of both the CPI(M) and the RSS have been killed in the past three decades in recurring clashes in the north Kerala district. In the last two years, there was fragile peace in the area after spiritual leader Sri M took some initiatives to broker peace between the warring parties.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)