Kannur: Whistleblower and expelled CPM leader V Kunhikrishnan on Saturday approached the Payyannur Police Station and wrote to the Kannur Rural District Police Chief Anuj Paliwal, alleging inaction in two cases of alleged intimidation, including the January 26 arson attack on a supporter's motorcycle.

In a written complaint to the Rural District Police Chief, Kunhikrishnan said it has been a month since the motorcycle of P V Prasannan, a native of Vellur and an executive of a pharma company, was set on fire under the cover of darkness, but the police have yet to identify those responsible.

The motorcycle was allegedly rolled from beside Prasannan's house to a nearby paddy field and torched late on January 26, hours after the CPM announced Kunhikrishnan's expulsion from the party. Prasannan had participated in what Kunhikrishnan described as a spontaneous solidarity march held outside his house following the announcement of the expulsion.

At the time, Kannur Rural Police Chief Anuj Paliwal had said an investigation was underway and CCTV footage from nearby roads was being examined.

In his latest representation, Kunhikrishnan alleged that there has been no “vigilant intervention” to trace the culprits. He also referred to a second incident, the placing of a wreath in front of the Kannapuram residence of writer V S Anilkumar, who had received the first copy of Kunhikrishnan's book at its launch.

Anilkumar had lodged a complaint with the police after the wreath was found near his gate. The symbolic act came amid heightened tensions within the CPM following Kunhikrishnan's allegations of misappropriation of funds by party leaders.

Kunhikrishnan, in his letter, claimed that attempts are now being made to portray the incidents as “self-staged” and described it as a campaign to distort facts. He warned that if the offenders in both cases are not identified and brought to justice at the earliest, he would be compelled to consider forms of direct protest.

Police sources said the investigation is continuing but declined to comment further on the whistleblower's allegations of delay.

The developments come against the backdrop of a widening political controversy in CPM stronghold Kannur, where Kunhikrishnan, a former district committee member, has publicly accused party leaders of siphoning off funds raised for the family of a slain worker, for the construction of a party office -- both in 2016, and for the 2021 Assembly election campaign in Payyannur. The CPM has rejected the allegations but has not issued a detailed point-by-point rebuttal.