One murder a day in CPM-ruled Kerala

Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, a Politburo member of the CPI(M), claims that there has been no increase in incidents of violence in Kerala during the 40-month rule of the party-led LDF, but at the same time he admits that the State has witnessed more than one murder a day in the said period.

As per the statistics provided by the Home Minister in the State Assembly on Thursday, 1,308 murders had taken place since the LDF Government took charge on May 18, 2006. The victims included 447 women and a new-born baby.

Though officials did not dispute the claim by Kodiyeri that there had been no perceptible increase in the rate, they said no improvement in the situation had occurred when the developments in policing techniques during the period were taken into account.

The Home Minister cut a sorry figure when he admitted in the House that the statistics on attacks on police stations during the period were not available. The Congress-led Opposition had the other day alleged that 33 cases of attacks on police stations by the CPI(M) and its feeder outfits had occurred in the 40-month period.

Kodiyeri told the Assembly that 97 burglaries at jewelry shops had been reported in the State in the period under consideration. These incidents had led to a loss to the tune of Rs 5.57 crore. The police had seized about Rs 6 crore hawala money in the last three years, he said.

Gold weighing 7,635 sovereigns had been lost in 2,226 incidents of thefts and chain-snatching, the Minister said. Action was being taken against 130 persons in cases of cyber crimes, he added. Ten burglaries in banks, including seven cooperative banks, had taken place in the State during the period, the Minister informed the House.

As many as 55 mediamen had become victims of attacks in the past 40 months while 12 media offices had been vandalized during the period, Kodiyeri said. Ten incidents of damaging equipments of mediamen had been reported, and certain pro-Left organisations also had taken part in such attacks, the Minister admitted.

The Home Minister refuted the Opposition charge that the crime rate in the State had increased to threatening levels. “Any increase in crimes or goonda activities has not come into the notice of the Government. Also, there has been no terrifying increase in attacks by goondas during the period,” Kodiyeri said, in reply to questions from K Babu and Thomas Chandy.

To a question on the reason for the delay in arresting infamous Thiruvananthapuram,-based goonda Om Prakash, Kodiyeri said that this was as he could not be spotted. Contrary to the allegations by the Opposition, he said Om Prakash had no special relations with any political party.
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HK’s Footnote:

As Neither Congress sitting in Opposition nor the Ruling Communists were bothered about Hindus or Temples – No one asked or answered How many Temples in Kerala were looted as per Police records apart from Government sponsored looting in the name of Devaswom Boards

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