Karimannur: A man has been brutally beaten up allegedly by CPM activists over a comment on Facebook. Joseph Vechoor, a native of Karimannur in Idukki, has been admitted to a private hospital in Thodupuzha with serious injuries.
Joseph was thrashed with an iron rod, leaving him with a fractured arm and leg. He is currently under treatment at the Al Azhar Medical College Hospital in Thodupuzha.
Joseph alleged that a gang led by CPM Karimannur area secretary P P Sumesh attacked him on Tuesday night.
A gang of about 20 men led by Sumesh assaulted me near the Udumbannoor town around 10pm, Joseph said.
He had been standing by the roadside after his work, waiting for his son, when attacked by the gang that arrived in a vehicle. Prior to the attack, the culprits had allegedly phoned Joseph, pretending to be Congress workers, to know his exact location.
The police have filed a case.
The likely motive
The assailants accused Joseph of posting a comment against the CPM area secretary on the Facebook post over the selection of the Kerala Congress (M) block president. Joseph's son Jojo had quit the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) four years ago and joined the Youth Congress. This is also said to be another reason that provoked the attack.
Joseph has named eight persons, including the area secretary, in his complaint to the police.
But the Station House Officer Sumesh Sudhakaran said that there is no evidence that the area secretary had gone to the place where the incident happened. The SHO further said that the cops are probing about the other accused named by Joseph.
The CPM version
According to the CPM's Karimannur area committee, Joseph was injured after he tried to attack Sony and Anthu who have been arrested over the incident. The committee also claimed that Sumesh was not in the area where the attack happened. Joseph had allegedly put up comments against the area secretary, his father and the party on Facebook.
A complaint over this had been given to the police, the committee office-bearers said.
