KOZHIKODE: The arrest of an RSS worker and an accused in the Thalassery Haridasan murder case from the CPM stronghold of Pinarayi kicked up a controversy after it emerged that he was hiding in a house located close to the house of CM Pinarayi Vijayan, an area under police surveillance.
After the arrest of Nikhil Das, the 14th accused in the case, the house was vandalised on Friday night and a country-made bomb was hurled at it.
Even as reports surfaced that the family which owned the house used to cooperate with CPM, the party's district secretary MV Jayarajan said that CPM had no connections with them. He alleged that the husband of the woman, PM Reshma, who allegedly facilitated the stay of the accused person had been taking a stand favourable to the RSS for long. Reshma, who was arrested for harbouring the accused, got bail on Saturday.
"No CPM worker will protect the accused in the murder of a party worker. As per media reports, she is the wife of an expatriate and is also a teacher of Amrita Vidyalayam," he said.
He said that the house had no permanent residents. "The family stays at Andalloor. The husband is in the Gulf. When this woman's phone calls were investigated, police realised that she was in continuous contact with the accused and it was she who helped him stay in hiding. This woman helped in protecting and providing food to the accused. So, saying that it was CPM men who protected him is false," said Jayarajan.
Jayarajan said that for the past two years the woman's husband had been taking a favourable stand towards the RSS. "Not only that, during Covid time, when there were restrictions on conducting temple festivals, this person had organised some protests along with the RSS," said Jayarajan. However, Reshma's family has reportedly claimed that they were traditionally CPM sympathisers, and the house was given out as part of a rental deal.Jayarajan, meanwhile, said the party has no role in the attack on the house on Friday night.
He said that party leaders or the police cannot be blamed for the accused staying undercover in an area like Pinarayi. "The house is rented out occasionally... The teacher used to come once in a while. So, no one can be blamed for someone hiding there," he said.
