Political tension lingered in the State capital a day after the CPI(M) district committee office came under attack with unidentified people targeting party district secretary Anavoor Nagappan’s house and assaulting a Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader.
Scrambling to restore peace, the police have apprehended five Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers for allegedly vandalising the party office.
Mr. Nagappan’s house near Neyyattinkara is suspected to have been vandalised by unknown people late Saturday. The windowpane of an unoccupied bedroom was found to be broken. His family noticed the damage only early Sunday. The party leader, who was at the district committee office at the time of the incident, accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of plotting the attack.
Flagpoles vandalised
The CPI(M) also accused the RSS of attacking several DYFI workers, including district president V. Anoop, near Peroorkada. Moreover, several flagpoles of the party that were erected at Melathumele junction, near Vattiyurkavu, were found to be vandalised.
The Thampanoor police arrested five people, who were identified as Lal, Satheerthan, Harishankar, Sandeep and Sefin, for the attack on the CPI(M) district committee office in Mettukada early Saturday.
Lal, Satheerthan, and Harishankar were taken into custody soon after their discharge from a private hospital in Attukal where they sought treatment after the clash with CPI(M) workers at Vanchiyoor on Friday. The incident had taken place when a group of BJP and RSS workers allegedly barged into a Left Democratic Front (LDF) rally and assaulted Vanchiyoor ward councillor Gayathri Babu.
Sneaked out of hospital
According to the police, the gang plotted the attack on the CPI(M) office while undergoing treatment. They allegedly sneaked out of the hospital to execute the plot before returning. Lal who rode pillion on a motorcycle had allegedly thrown the rock. The police also seized two motorcycles that were allegedly used for the crime. Efforts are under way to nab the sixth member of the gang.
The accused have been booked under provisions including Sections 143, 149 (unlawful assembly), 147, 148 (rioting), 153 (wantonly giving provocation to cause riot) and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code.
BJP reaction
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan accused the police and the CPI(M) of targeting innocent BJP workers who had no role in the incidents. Alleging that the attacks had been orchestrated by the CPI(M) as a diversionary tactic, he wondered whether the police could conduct a fair probe. He also highlighted the failure of the government in nabbing the perpetrators in the attack on AKG Centre, the CPI(M) State headquarters, two months ago.
The LDF district committee, on the other hand, accused the BJP of intentionally unleashing violence in the State.
