Kottakkal – stormed with ultra intentions?

MALAPPURAM: Three hundred armed men attacking a police station, that too on wee hours! Kottakkal was not used to such news that it woke up to on Thursday.

Of course, normalcy is back with police guarding every nook and corner. But beneath the silence that has engulfed the area lies many a question to be probed.

‘‘It was a well planned one. Executed to enlist Kottakkal among the high-sensitive areas,’’ says SI A M Sidhique.

And the public too do not find any other reason for such an act.

‘‘Of the 300 who stormed the police station, a mere four were identified as residents of Kottakkal. The rest were imported from violence-hit areas including Tirur and Parappanangadi and few from Vengara and Kolathur,’’ said police.

It was the widespread break-out of violence in the district that led police to take NDF president Abdul Rahiman Baqavi and former president A Sayid into preventive custody.

Abdul Rahiman Baqavi was brought to Malappuram police station and A Sayid to Kottakkal police station.

‘‘However, instead of moving to Malappuram police station to release their president, they came down to Kottakkal to release their former president. Why?,’’ asks Muhammed, a resident of Kottakkal. Several people here strongly share Muhammed’s view – that the perpetrators were brought just to sow violence and communal hatred in Kottakkal.

‘‘Majority of them hail from wealthy background and many were identified as well-educated. They knew that gathering late in the night when prohibitory orders were in force was offensive. But they did. Was that not a planned move?,’’ asks SI A M Sidhique.

‘‘During the interrogation, many activists admitted that they usually take weapon with them,’’ he said, adding that most of the seized weapons were designed to finish off the target in one strike.

‘‘Lakshman’s murder prove how planned the NDF are. The medical college doctors told the police that those who hacked Lakshman to death were either professional killers or those who have got enough training,’’ said Sidhique, who was awarded with good service entry for preventing NDF men on the rampage.

The general public here still carry some sense of optimism.

And they are determined not to allow the incident spread communal hatred in Kottakkal.

Many feel that the government is yet to understand the gravity of the situation.

And the police too are leaving no stone unturned. They are keeping a close vigil onthe coastal areas.

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