KOZHIKODE: The uproar over the death of Gulf-returnee Sugathan, who committed suicide after AIYF activists allegedly put up flags on the plot on which he intended to start a workshop, had not even quietened when a similar incident, this time involving the DYFI, has come to light in the district.DYFI activists have made the life of another expatriate miserable by planting the party’s flags on his plot in Kottooli. Kakkodi resident Sreeraj Sreenivasan Eradi, who returned to Kerala after spending nearly two decades in Dubai, has alleged activists of DYFI, the youth wing of the ruling CPM, put up the flags on his 86-cent family plot on which he had intended to start a fish farm.
This, when Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and other CPM leaders have voiced their strong objection to the practice of using party flags to intimidate people. Sreeraj said the incident occurred in January. “The property is in my mother’s name. In December last year, I decided to use the plot for inland fish farming. I even started cleaning the property to make it suitable for the venture. However, a group of DYFI workers vandalised the property in January.
They knocked down the boundary wall and put up their party flags,” he said. Though he lodged a complaint with Medical College Police on January 7, the latter failed to initiate any action, he said. “The DYFI members told me the Corporation was planning to acquire my land for constructing a playground. But when I checked with the Mayor, he said no such projects were in the pipeline,” he said.
This is Sreeraj’s second such experience. “DYFI activists had come up with a similar objection a few years ago when I was planning to build a house on the property. I abandoned the idea later as I returned to Dubai,” he said.Parayancheri municipal councillor Anitha Rajan confirmed the Corporation had no plans at present to construct a playground on the plot. “While acquiring the property was considered several years ago, the Corporation decided against it as crores of rupees are needed for the acquisition. We do not have any such plans as of now,” Rajan told Express.
The Medical College police told Express they did receive Sreeraj’s complaint on the matter.
“Following the complaint, we had called DYFI leaders and the complainant to the police station. Both of them told us the issue will be settled outside. Henceforth, we did not receive any intimation from either side,” said officers.