Aranmula anti-airport protests: Angry reactions over death threat letter to Kummanam Rajashekharan.

published on August 25, 2013

Angry reactions have started pouring in over an anonymous letter, reportedly issuing a death threat to convenor of Aranmula Paithrikagrama Karma Samiti, Kummanam Rajashekharan. The letter found at the Karma Samiti office warns of “putting an end to the ongoing protest movement against the KGS Group, failing which he (Kummanam Rajashekharan) would be killed.”

A complaint has been registered at the local police station, with police swinging into action to find out the source of the letter.

“If you go against the KGS Group, you will be killed. Hence you have to withdraw (from the protest movement) and apologize to the public. You will be given Rs 10 lakh,” said the anonymous letter, with a phone number inscribed at the bottom.

According to sources, the letter was posted from Pandalam on 16 August and was addressed to “Kummanam Rajashekharan, Anti-Aranmula airport protest committee, Aranmula PO, Pathanamthitta.” The seal shows its receipt on 21 August, at Aranmula post office.

“Aranmula witnessed tense moments on 31 July, when the homes of the members of Paithrikagrama Karma Samiti were attacked and ransacked by goons. Under such circumstances, we cannot take the matter lightly,” said a senior member of Paithrikagrama Karma Samiti.

A complaint has been registered to trace the source of the letter. Complaints have also been handed over to the DySP, District Police Chief, DGP and the Home Minister.

Kummanam Rajashekharan has been spearheading the movement, inculcating the people with an awareness of doom that lay in store if an ecologically sensitive area like Aranmula is ‘modernized’ by leveling its numerous water-bodies. This resulted in the people’s movement against the KGS Group, the initiators of the project.

Sources have revealed that right from the inception of the protest movements, there have been death threats against Kummanam Rajashekharan.