Bomb attack at Payyanur MLA's confidant’s shrimp farm; Home Minister intervenes, SIT may probe poll violence

Kannur: Kannur Rural Police Chief Anuj Paliwal said he will constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday to probe all cases of vandalism and arson linked to the Assembly election. The move came after Payyannur MLA V Kunhikrishnan’s election strategist, T Purushothaman, staged a five-hour sit-in outside the Payyanur police station following a bomb attack on his shrimp farm. Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala called Purushothaman during the protest and assured him that an SIT would be formed to investigate the cases.

Purushothaman estimated his losses at ₹6 lakh and alleged that CPM workers were behind the bomb attack, which damaged a building, destroyed farm equipment and may have contaminated the shrimp pond.He said the attacks continued even three months after the election because police failed to arrest those who set fire to the motorcycle of Kunhikrishnan supporter Prasannan on January 26. “There are now 22 complaints of vandalism and arson. Police have registered cases in 18 of them. Except for the case in which five DYFI workers were arrested for setting my car on fire, there has been no progress in any of the other 17 cases. That is why I staged a protest outside the police station,” he said.

He began the protest at Payyannur Police Station around 9.30 am and continued until around 2.30 pm, when Paliwal reached the station. By then, Ramesh Chennithala had called Purushothaman and assured him that an SIT would be formed to investigate the cases, he said.

The latest attack, according to the FIR, took place between 6 pm on Wednesday and 6 am on Thursday at Purushothaman's shrimp farm at Kandankali in Payyannur. Unidentified persons trespassed into the property, hurled an explosive device and set fire to the building used for accommodation and storing farming equipment.

Payyannur Police registered the case for criminal trespass, using fire or explosives to cause damage, and causing property damage of ₹1 lakh or more under Sections 329(3), 326(g) and 324(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Section 326(g), which deals with mischief by explosive substance, carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. The police also invoked Section 9(B)(1)(b) of the Explosives Act for the unlawful possession and use of explosives in violation of the law or licence conditions.

“It was not simply set on fire. It was a bomb blast,” Purushothaman said. “Everything there was destroyed. The building was badly damaged, and the equipment was destroyed,” he said. The shrimp in the farm were around 50 days old and were growing well, he said. Shrimp are usually harvested after 120 days. “There is no doubt in my mind that CPM workers are behind the attack,” said Purushothaman, a Marxist ideologue who was a member of CPM's Payyannur town branch committee till he was expelled from the party for working for Kunhikrishnan in the run-up to the election.

Spate of attacks
On January 26, the motorcycle of Prasannan, a neighbour and core supporter of Kunhikrishnan, was allegedly taken to a nearby farmland and set on fire. Earlier that day, Prasannan had led an impromptu march in Vellur in support of Kunhikrishnan after the CPM expelled the latter for publicly accusing the then Payyannur MLA T I Madhusoodanan of financial irregularities.

A series of incidents followed the election. After polling on April 9, houses, vehicles and compound walls of people suspected of supporting Kunhikrishnan were allegedly attacked, vandalised or demolished.
On the night of April 9, Purushothaman's Hyundai i20 was set on fire outside his house at Mahadeva Gramam in Payyanur. Five DYFI activists, including Payyanur West area president Sudheesh, were arrested in connection with the case.

In the intervening night of April 10 and 11, an Alto car belonging to M K Narayanan, a panchayat employee, was set on fire at Mathamangalam in Eramam-Kuttoor panchayat. Kunhikrishnan alleged that the attack was linked to Narayanan's Facebook posts supporting him during the election. The compound wall of Congress supporter K P Rekha was also demolished at Annoor in Payyannur town after it was used for graffiti supporting Kunhikrishnan. After the results were out, Kunhikrishnan rebuilt the wall for Rekha.

Kunhikrishnan's own compound wall around a farmland in Vellur was also demolished because it carried campaign graffiti in his support. A poly-greenhouse inside the plot was set on fire.
There were also incidents in the neighbouring Taliparamba constituency. The IUML office at Mayyil was vandalised, while the Congress mandalam committee office, Gandhi Bhavan, was attacked and furniture inside was destroyed. The house of Bhaskaran, a UDF polling agent in Mullakkodi, was also found vandalised. "There is no arrest in any of these cases," he said.

Purushothaman alleged that the former MLA Madhusoodanan, a CPM Kannur District Secretariat member, had provoked the violence at his shrimp farm. “Four days ago, he came to the police station and openly issued a strong challenge against us. We were also attacked on social media,” Purushothaman said. “Several people said things like they would teach us a lesson when the time came,” he added.
Purushothaman said the Home Minister had assured him over the phone that he would personally monitor the investigation.