THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Mangalapuram police have arrested one Yuva Morcha activist in connection with the attack on SFI workers of Thonnakkal GHSS after the school elections. Vijeesh Vijayan, 30, hailing from Kudavoor near Thonnakkal, was arrested on Wednesday night for attacking students affiliated to the SFI after clashes erupted on the school campus between the ABVP and SFI workers.
The ABVP had won three seats in the school parliament elections on Tuesday and after which members of the two outfits entered into a pitched battle on the campus. The fight soon spilt out to the streets. A group of BJP/RSS/Yuva Morcha activists had assembled outside the school to assist students affiliated to the ABVP and they assaulted the students linked to the SFI. The pictures of the group comprising of more than half-a-dozen people, some of them armed with cricket bats, had gone viral prompting the police to take immediate action.
More to fall in police net
Mangalapuram Sub-Inspector J Ajayan said more people have been arraigned in the case and they will be nabbed soon. “We have identified the entire attackers, including the ones who were wielding bats, and they will be arrested soon. We have unearthed the details of about six more people and they will all be apprehended soon,” he said.
The ABVP attack on SFI activists on Tuesday precipitated tension in the area as an RSS/ABVP leader Syam Kumar’s house near Avanavancherry was attacked soon in retaliation. His house was ransacked by a group of suspected DYFI/CPM workers who damaged the household items. The vicious cycle of violence did not stop and SFI state president Vineesh’s house near Korani came under the attack of suspected RSS workers in the wee hours of Wednesday. Vineesh’s house was vandalised by the assailants who damaged the electrical appliances inside the house after breaking open the front door. The Attingal police are yet to arrest anyone in connection with the two cases.
Attingal DYSP Anil Kumar said the investigation is on to find the culprits. Attingal of late has been witnessing political tensions after the Municipality razed the make-shift ‘bhajanamadom’ erected on a ‘disputed’ property. The municipality deemed it as encroached property while the Hindu organisations maintained it was private property and there were protests and police action in connection with the incident.
However, the police said the present issues had nothing to do with the tug of war between the CPM-ruled municipality and the Sangh Parivar organisation.“The present issues are a fall out of the showdown between the SFI and the ABVP,” Anil Kumar said.
ABVP state committee office attacked
Meanwhile, the violence in Attingal found repercussion in the state capital when the ABVP state committee office came under attack in the wee hours of Thursday. City Police commissioner P Prakash said a probe is on to find the culprits.