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BJP worker's murder in Kannur triggers political ripples

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) worker in Kerala's northern district of Kannur, a hotbed of political violence for years, was killed and his parents and brother were seriously injured in a savage attack on Monday night.
The deceased has been identified as P V Sujith (27). According to reports from Kannur, a gang of about ten members barged into his house at Pappinaserry under Valapattanam police station around midnight and attacked him with a sword.
His parents and brother, who tried to shield Sujith, were thrashed. Sujith, who received multiple injuries, was rushed to a local hospital, where he was declared brought dead, the reports said.
Police have taken nine persons, most of who are affiliated to Communist Party of India (Marxist), in connection with the incident. The district unit of the BJP has called a shut down strike in the area to protest the incident.
BJP district president P Satyaprakash alleged that the attack was carried out by CPM workers, who were agitated over the arrest of party's district secretary P Jayarajan by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the Kathiroor Manoj murder case.
BJP state president Kummanam Rajashekharan said the incident was a clear indication that the CPM was not ready to abandon the path of political violence. He pointed out that his party was ready for talks with the CPM leaders to end the violence but the latter rejected his initiative.
CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told reporters in New Delhi that the murder of Sujith had no connection with politics. The murder is the result of dispute among the local people over alleged harassment of a girl by the deceased. He said that his party workers were not involved in the incident.
Senior CPM Kannur leader E P Jayarajan said that the party's political opponents were trying to portray the murder as a political act as part of a move to rake up political violence as a major issue in the forthcoming assembly polls.
Political violence in Kannur, where about 200 people have lost their lives in politically motivated attacks in the last three decades, came to spotlight following moves to take the investigation into the recent political murders to the conspiracy behind them.
The move has led to implication of several senior CPM leaders in some sensational cases. While the party's Kannur secretary is in the dock in two murder cases, a district secretariat member and a local committee member are involved in another murder case.
The investigation moved towards the top leaders after the investigation into the cases was taken over by the CBI.
news@khaleejtimes.com

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