Hartal against RSS leader’s murder total in Thrissur

Thrissur: The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by BJP-RSS on Wednesday in Thrissur district in protest against the killing of an RSS leader late on Tuesday evening allegedly by NDF and CPI(M) workers near Pavaratty in the district was total. Shops and commercial establishments throughout the district remained closed while no public vehicular services were operated. However, no untoward incident was reported from anywhere.

Former RSS Mandalam Karayavah Vinod (Vinu 34), Arakkal house, Thirunelloor, was hacked to death by a group at Kaithamukku, Padoor, Pavaratty on Tuesday. The police said Vinu died on the spot. The group of assailants had crashed the car in which they came against the motorcycle on which Vinu was coming to Kaithamukku. After the crash, Vinu tried to run away leaving the bike behind but the assailants chased him and hacked brutally.

The gang escaped in the car in which they came. Vinod’s friend who was on the bike with him escaped unhurt, the police said. They said they had got the number of the car. The Thrissur district collector clamped the entire Pavaratty under prohibitory orders as tension prevailed.

Sometime after the incident, Ajmal (19) of Cheruparambil House, Thirunelloor, a first year degree student, was hacked by a group as he was travelling on a motorcycle . He had suffered deep wounds in his head.

The incidents caused tension in the area as BJP and CPI(M) workers went around destroying banners and posters and challenging each other. A heavy police posse was deployed in the area under the direct supervision of District Police Superintendent MP Dinesh. District BJP secretary B Balagopal alleged that NDF-CPI(M) workers were behind the murder of Vinod.

The Pavaratty area had been communally and politically sensitive for the past several years. The calm being felt there since the murder of Mujeeb Rehman in 2006 was shattered on August 21 last when BJP-RSS worker Byju (24), son of Ayyappan of Maruthayur near Pavaratty, a taxi river was hacked to death at Puvathur near Pavaratty. This act also was allegedly perpetrated by activists of NDF and it had sparked widespread violence in the area in which three other persons including a couple, were suffered hack injuries.

Meanwhile, the area plunged into an uneasy calm as panicked people preferred to remain inside their homes with police parties patrolling on the roads. With prohibitory orders in place for one week, the police did not expect much trouble in the coming days. Week-long prohibitory orders had been clamped in the Pavaratty police station limits after the violence in August also.

Searches had yielded four swords from a drainage pipe in Kunnamkulam. The police suspected that these swords could have been the ones used by the assailants to hack Vinod. However, they said they were yet to confirm this.

The hartal was total in the district with even KSRTC buses keeping off the roads. Shops remained closed even in interior villages. Very limited number of private vehicles were seen on the roads, However, essential services had been exempted from the hartal.

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