BackCPM on backfoot as police arrests 2 party workers in connection with Kerala murder
CPM finds itself on the backfoot in Kerala as the police arrests two of its activists for the murder of Congress worker Shuhaib in the politically sensitive Kannur district
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Bengaluru: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPM found itself on the backfoot in Kerala as the police arrested two of its activists on Sunday night for the murder of Congress worker Shuhaib in the politically sensitive Kannur district.
Shuhaib was killed on last Monday night by a group of assailants in a brutal manner with 32 cuts on his body. It is a case of political vendetta resulting in murder, as Shuhaib had recently run into trouble with the local CPM leadership, the police had said in its first information report filed last week. But the ruling CPM denied this charge.
The arrests also fly in the face of CPM’s attempts to improve its image following violent clashes with the activists of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological arm Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in Kannur. The region has been witnessing a series of violent murders, mainly of BJP-RSS and CPM workers over the last few decades.
The two arrested, M.V. Aakash (24) and Rajin Raj (26), are members of the party’s youth arm, Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), and close to the party’s district leadership, the police said. They walked into a local police station in Kannur along with the CPM district leaders, after the police undertook a massive search operations across the district to locate the suspects. The social media accounts of both arrested has pictures of them posing with CPM leaders, including party’s Kannur district secretary P. Jayarajan, the police said. Both arrested are also accused in another political murder case of last year and were out on bail.
However, CPM Kerala secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan on Sunday denied any involvement of CPM in the murder. He said the police is troubling the party workers in relation to this case, but they will cooperate with the investigation and if any member is found involved and the member will face action if found guilty.
CPM leader and Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan also broke his silence on Sunday night, hours before the news of the arrest came out.
“Shuhaib’s murder in Kannur is most deplorable. Had directed the police to take action soon after the incident. Police is taking strong action. Independent investigation will take place. Who the accused are or what their connections are will not affect the inquiry," he posted on Facebook, in Malayalam.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Congress party said they suspected the arrested are “dummy culprits" provided by the CPM to help the real killers escape. Congress leader from Kannur and former parliamentarian K. Sudhakaran has begun a 48-hour fast to highlight alleged police laxity in the case. Shuhaib’s father Muhammad has raised the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation into the case.
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