Kasargod: Clashes Erupt over CPI (M) Leader's Arrest, One Dead
Stephan Kayyar
Daijiworld Media Network - Kasargod (VM)
Kasargod, Aug 2: Clashes erupted here on Thursday August 2 in response to the call given by Kerala CPI (M) over the arrest of their leader leader P Jayarajan in connection with the murder of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) worker Abdul Shukoor in February.
In Uduma, Kasargod, clashes between CPI (M) and IUML leaders resulted in the death of DYFI Tachangad local committee president and CPI (M) member Manoj Kumar (24). He was an employee of Yamaha showroom in Vidyanagar.
Two others CPM(I) secretary Karunakar SFI member Shivprasad were injured.
Badiadka Congress office was also attacked.
Shops in Kasargod and surrounding areas were forcibly shut by the CPI(M) leaders and even road transport was stopped. State-owned as well as private buses were off the road.
A procession was taken from Kasargod new bus stand to old stand by CPI(M) leaders.
The mob pelted stones on a KSRTC bus plying from Mangalore near NH Chowki, CPCRI rest house, set fire to a bus and a police jeep in Kanhangad, and vandalised Congress office in Pullur. In addition, offices of news agencies like Mathrubhumi, Manorama, Madhyamam were also attacked.
Police resorted to lathi charge and fired two rounds of tear gas to control the mob.
Around 100 CPI(M) leaders were arrested including zilla panchayat president P P Shamala Devi. Sunil, a cameraman of Asianet channel was thrashed by CPI(M) protestors.
Across the state, CPI-M workers stopped private vehicles and put up road blocks. They also attacked Congress and IUML offices.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, after a cabinet meeting, told reporters here that action would be taken against those who have violated the law in the name of the shutdown.
"Everyone has the right to protest but no one has the right to infringe upon others' freedom. The police have been asked to register a case in each and every incident and proceed according to the law," Chandy said.
"We have received numerous complaints from a cross section of the society on the violence unleashed in the name of shutdown," he said.
Across Kerala, state-owned as well as private buses were off the road. Most of the offices and shops also remained shut while two units of the central paramilitary forces took over the vantage points in Kannur.
Jayarajan, who was arrested on Wednesday August 1, has been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days in the Kannur jail.
Soon after his arrest, CPI-M workers went berserk in Kannur and more than 20 offices of the IUML and the Congress in Kannur were attacked.
The government called in central paramilitary forces and in the early hours of Thursday, two units arrived from Coimbatore.
"Today, the central forces will conduct flag marches in and around Kannur and help local police maintain law and order," said an official.
However, the Technopark IT campus here and the Infopark campus in Kochi were working.
"We reached offices early and a police convoy escorted the company vehicles," said M Vasudevan, a Technopark official.
But attendances in state and central government offices was low.
With IANS Inputs