KOCHI: The murder of SFI leader Abhimanyu at Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam, was the culmination of a strategy worked out by the Campus Front of India (CFI) wherein their growth — for long thwarted by CPM and its affiliates — would come only by use of force, reveal documents now in possession of the Kerala Police.
As more CFI and Popular Front of India (PFI) members are coming under the scanner in connection with the murder of Abhimanyu, a set of documents seized by Kerala Police reveals that the CFI has been targeting SFI, DYFI and even CPM over the past few months.
“SFI started panicking after the Campus Front successfully established their unit at a school in Vengad, Kannur, one of the CPM party villages. This resulted in their attack on the CFI leaders,” says the minutes of one of the many CFI meetings.
The documents were seized by the Kerala Police during the probe into Abhimanyu’s murder.
In the minutes of the meeting, a copy of which has been accessed by Express, it comes out loud and clear that the organisation had been keeping a tab on all the attacks carried out over the years by SFI, DYFI and CPM on the PFI and CFI cadre at various places in the state.
The police reveal this had almost become an obsession for the CFI as the discussion point of many of their meetings revolved around the attacks carried out by SFI, DYFI and CPM while attacks by members of ABVP and KSU on their ranks only found passing mention.
Abhimanyu murder: Prime accused nabbed
Kochi: In a major breakthrough in the Abhimanyu murder case, the police have nabbed a Campus Front leader at the Maharaja’s College who allegedly is the prime accused in the case. Muhammed of Pottanthazhathu, a native of Vaduthala near Arookutty in Alappuzha, was arrested from Mangaluru on Tuesday night. The police said the final-year degree student, the key conspirator of the operation, had been staying in hideouts in Mangaluru and Goa.
A top officer told Express the minutes clearly outline the Campus Front’s decision to target SFI. “As per probe details, the Campus Front has been at the receiving end after SFI prevented its activities in many colleges.Therefore, many meetings were about the need to counter SFI’s dominance in a big way,” he said. The document lists successful campaigns launched by the Campus Front.
Attacks mentioned in the minutes included the attack on the Campus Front activists by DYFI at Ideal Arts and Science College, Cherpulassery, attack on Campus Front leader C K Puthanathanni by CPM at Malappuram and the attack on Kozhikode South unit president M C Sakhir by SFI activists at Malabar Christian College in Kozhikode while conducting a programme “It is RSS, I am the witness”.
Under the sub-head “solidarity” in the minutes, it says, “Campus Front extends full support to Kerala University Students Service Director T Vijayalakshmi who exposed misappropriation of funds from the students’ fund of the Kerala University by SFI. This was in the backdrop of SFI making threats on her life.”
Massive recruitment drive
Kerala Police have launched a probe into the massive recruitment drive by Campus Front under the programme ‘Cadre Oturum 2017’. The documents seized by the police highlighted the organisation’s need to create new cadre to face challenges and clear the hurdles.
“We conducted interviews in all districts in the second phase of the recruitment process; lukewarm response rarely disheartened us. We continued to be determined togo on,” says the document.The ‘Cadre Oturum’ was finally held in a big way at Tirur on December 23, 2017; it was inaugurated by PFI state president Nazaruddin Elamaram.
Social media campaigns
lIntelligence agencies will soon start analysing various topics broached as part of the programme ‘Scholar School’ which was also part of social media campaigns. “The Campus Front has been organising ‘Intellectual Development Programme’, a regular training process aimed at providing basic education on the concepts of the Front and improving intellectual standards of its cadres.”