Mahe: Tension prevailed in Kannur, where the CPM and BJP have called for a dawn-to-dusk hartal to protest the killings of their partymen in a fresh bout of political violence.
Tension prevailed in Mahe after a BJP office was attacked and a Puducherry police jeep torched allegedly by CPM activists, police said adding there was no casualty. The incident happened during the funeral procession of CPM activist Babu.
The situation was brought under control follwing intervention by police personnel posted in the area.
A huge posse of policemen has been deployed to thwart any spurt in violence.
Though vehicles were exempted from the stir, roads bore a deserted look. Shops and business establishments remained shut. Kannur University has postponed all exams scheduled for the day and the new dates will be announced later.
Political killings
The CPM-BJP political violence resurfaced after a lull, this time in Mahe, with two political workers being killed in two separate attacks on Monday.
CPM leader Babu Kannippoyil, 45, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants on Monday night in Pallur. The deceased, Babu Kannippoyil, was a former Mahe councillor and a party local committee member. The incident occurred around 9 pm when the deceased was returning home. Bombs were hurled at Babu's house six months ago. The CPM accused that activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were behind the attack.
BJP worker Shemaj, an autorickshaw driver, was pulled out of his vehicle at New Mahe and hacked to death later on Monday night. He died on the way to Kozhikode medical college.
Shemaj was attacked shortly after the 'fatal attack' on CPM local leader, Babu, the police said adding political enmity was the motive for the two killings. He is survived by wife Deepa and son Abhinav.
New Mahe, comes under Kannur police jurisdiction while Mahe, a former French colony, is located between Thalassery in Kannur district and Vatakara in Kozhikode district, and is an enclave of the union territory of Puducherry.
The police, while launching a manhunt for the killers, have enforced combing operations in the area to see that the situation does not go out of control.
Tension at Thalassery hospital
Though Babu was rushed to the Indira Gandhi Co-Operative Hospital at Thalassery, he was declared brought dead. Hundreds of CPM workers gathered at the hospital and party leaders had to intervene to keep the situation under the control. Babu's body was later shifted to the general hospital.
In a press statement issued by its Kannur unit, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) said that the 'brutal murder of K. Babu, a former councillor and an active member of the party, by the RSS activists shows that they (RSS) are in no mood to end the politics of violence, that they have been carrying out.'
"There was a RSS camp that was going on Kuthuparampu and this incident occurred after it got over. Babu last year also came under attack. To protest this murder, the CPM has called for a shutdown in Kannur and Mahe," it said.
Mahe is situated between Thalassery in the politically volatile Kannur district and Vatakara in Kozhikode district. It is an enclave of UT Puducherry.
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